Ukraine will join EU, timing depends on speed of reforms – European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has confirmed support for Ukraine's accession to the European Union but expressed reservations about exactly when it will happen.
Source: Ursula von der Leyen in an interview with The Washington Post, as reported by European Pravda
The head of the European Commission emphasised that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine "changes everything", and that no country can be "in between" regarding Kyiv's EU membership.
Quote: "If you want to join the European Union, there are reforms a country must do: [It must] have a body of laws in place for anti-corruption and money laundering. These are deep structural reforms for any candidate country, which is quite a challenge," she said.
Von der Leyen refused to predict when Ukraine will become a member of the EU, saying that it "depends on when the country is ready to join".
"There are, of course, criteria for the judicial system, the rule of law and economic readiness. There is a whole set of criteria that needs to be fulfilled to be able to join the single market and the European Union," she explained.
"I cannot give you any timelines. As I said, it depends on the speed of reforms," she added.
Background:
- In late June, the European Commission verbally assessed Ukraine's progress towards EU membership. The Commission believes that Ukraine has fully met two of the seven conditions necessary for the start of membership negotiations and that progress has been made on the remaining conditions.
- Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said Ukraine would not fully meet all seven criteria of the European Commission by October, but that accession talks would start anyway.
- Stefanishyna also said she is confident that Ukraine will be ready for EU membership in the next two years and for NATO membership even earlier.
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