Espreso Global Russia-Ukraine war Ukraine will not become EU member as long as Russian troops are on its territory

Ukraine will not become EU member as long as Russian troops are on its territory

12 January, 2023 Thursday

01:45

As long as Russian troops are on Ukrainian territory, our country cannot become an EU member, but European Union must support our country in achieving victory over Russian Federation

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Frans Timmermans, deputy Chairman of the European Commission, in the interview for DW.

"No, it is impossible. But the whole idea is for Ukraine to come out of this conflict as a winner, sovereign, independent, free and able to make this choice itself. And I think that Ukraine is fighting for this to happen. European Union has to support Ukraine in achieving this goal," he said.

According to Timmermans, the EU should support Ukraine in the fight against Russia. He emphasized that Ukraine can play a special role in implementing an energy transition strategy in European Union.

"We need to make Ukraine part of the future EU hydrogen economy. Ukraine is ideally suited to become a major producer of "green hydrogen" and biomethane for goods that Europe's clean economy will need in the future," Timmermans said.

As European Commission noted, when Ukraine received the official status of a candidate for membership of the European Union, in order to be accepted into the EU, it is necessary to fulfill Copenhagen criteria - conditions for joining the EU, adopted in 1993. Among them are the presence of stable state institutions, a valid market economy and the ability to effectively fulfill the obligations of EU member.

In addition, European Commission formulated seven conditions that Kyiv must fulfill on the way to membership in European Union. It is about judicial reforms, fight against corruption, de-oligarchization and policy towards national minorities.

On December 14, Verkhovna Rada assured that Ukraine has fulfilled all recommendations of the European Commission, which are necessary for the start of negotiations on joining the EU. At the same time, the opposition insists that this is not quite the case, because, in the development and adoption of laws, priority is given not to quality, but to speed.
On December 31, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called it a strategic task for Ukraine to meet the criteria for joining the European Union by the end of 2024.