Ukraine wants to join EU within next two years – Ukraine's PM

Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, has declared an ambitious plan to join the European Union within the next two years.

Source: Shmyhal in the interview with Politico, reported by European Pravda

Quote: "We have a very ambitious plan to join the European Union within the next two years. So we expect that this year, in 2023, we can already have this pre-entry stage of negotiations."

Details: As it is noted, this throws down a gauntlet to the EU establishment, which is trying to keep Ukrainian membership as a far more remote concept.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last year it could be "decades" before Ukraine joins. Even EU leaders, who backed granting Ukraine candidate status at their summit last June, privately admit that the prospect of the country actually joining is quite some years away. 

Friday’s EU summit in Kyiv will be about striking the right balance between Ukraine’s expectations and what Brussels can offer.

Though EU national leaders will not be in attendance, European Council officials have been busy liaising with EU member states about the final communiqué.

Some countries are insisting the statement should not stray far from the language used at the June European Council, emphasising that while the future of Ukraine lies within the European Union, aspirant countries need to meet specific criteria. "Expectation is quite high in Kyiv, but there is a need to fulfil all the conditions that the Commission has set out. It’s a merit-based process," said one senior EU official.

Shmyhal told Politico he hopes Ukraine can achieve a "substantial leap forward" on Friday, particularly in specific areas: an agreement on a visa-free regime for industrial goods; the suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian exports for another year; and "active progress" on joining the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments scheme and the inclusion of Ukraine into the EU’s mobile roaming area. 

"We expect progress and acceleration on our path towards signing these agreements," he said.

The hot topic, and one of the central question marks over Ukraine’s EU accession, will be Ukraine’s struggle against corruption.

"We need a reformed Ukraine. We cannot have the same Ukraine as before the war," said one senior EU official centrally involved in preparations for the summit.

Shmyhal insisted that the Zelenskyy government is taking corruption seriously. "We have a zero-tolerance approach to corruption," he said, pointing to the "lightning speed" with which officials were removed this month. "Unfortunately, corruption was not born yesterday, but we are certain that we will uproot corruption," he said, openly saying that it’s key to the country’s EU accession path.

Nonetheless, the symbolic power of this week’s summit is expected to send a strong message to Moscow about Ukraine’s European aspirations.

Background: Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, who arrived on a visit to Kyiv last week, stated that "Ukraine is the EU, and the EU is Ukraine. We will be together!"

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