Czech President reveals when talks about Ukraine joining EU and NATO can begin

Czech President Petr Pavel has said that supporting Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO should be a long-term goal of Western countries.

Source: Pavel in an interview with Reuters, reported by European Pravda

Quote: "I am not saying it has to be in any given time horizon, because preparations for entry into both these institutions is very complicated, requires long preparation and meeting a whole list of criteria, but we should help Ukraine with it."

Details: Pavel has said that EU accession talks could start as early as the end of this year, which would give Ukraine a springboard for closer cooperation and assistance in post-war reconstruction; it would also accelerate its approximation to European standards.

"When it comes to NATO... the more stable Ukraine is economically, the bigger chance it will be prepared earlier for entry into NATO," the Czech president added.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists that Ukraine will not accept alternative proposals that could replace its NATO membership.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that Ukraine will not be satisfied with any other decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, except for actual steps towards Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance.

In June, the European Commission will share an early assessment of Ukraine's progress in reforms necessary for the opening of EU membership negotiations.

Prior to that, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expects a positive interim assessment by the European Commission in June.

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