Ukrainians should stop whining and tell story of their uniqueness as part of West – Klimkin

He said this in an interview with the Espreso YouTube channel.

Klimkin believes that Ukraine needs to show its uniqueness and its history, which began not with the Orange Revolution or the Revolution of Dignity, but much earlier.

"We will have the same problem when we join the European Union. The emotion will still sink later, and we will need to show what Ukrainians are, why they can surprise again, why we are unique, why we can do it at some point and not at others. Many people ask: "Well, you had the Orange Revolution, and then nothing." Some of my friends actually believe that the history of Ukraine began with the Maidan. Before that, it was so incomprehensible. I show them that we had to go through this path, sometimes very unpleasant, in the wrong direction," the minister said, adding that Kravchuk, who was responsible for the communist ideology, could not join NATO or the EU.

He also says that Ukraine shares common values with the West.

"We need to stop whining and tell our story. This story should be about our uniqueness and our uniqueness as part of the West. We have no future because our values fundamentally coincide with the West. Our entire history, from the times of Kyivan Rus or medieval times, was based on the understanding that the West, the Ottoman Empire, gradually created this endless empire. And no matter how much we criticize someone for the right or wrong strategic and tactical decisions, we have to show that we are us, and this is the story for the years to come," Klimkin emphasized and added that after the war, Ukraine should change its Constitution and its social contract.

At the same time, when someone asks the foreign minister if there will be militarization in Ukraine, he says that there will be, but it will be European: "It sounds quite fun, but no one has ever been this way, we are the first."

Ukraine's accession to the EU

Ukraine applied for EU membership on 28 February 2022 during the Russian-Ukrainian war. 

On June 23, 2022, Ukraine was granted candidate status for EU membership.

In May, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine should be ready to join the EU in two years - the country expects to receive a political decision to start accession negotiations this year.

According to Espreso's sources, the European Parliament is considering the possibility of starting negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU this fall.

However, on August 17, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said that Ukraine would not be able to implement all 7 EU recommendations by October, as these are changes that have been implemented over the years.

Maria Mezentseva, Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine's Integration with the EU, Head of the Permanent Delegation to PACE, noted that it is necessary to wait for the October report of the European Commission on the implementation of 7 EU recommendations by Ukraine

On August 28, European Council President Charles Michel said that the European Union should be ready to accept new member states by 2030. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed support for setting a tentative ‘time target’ for new members to join the EU.

On September 8, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said it was important that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU begin by the end of this year. A clear European perspective will inspire Ukrainians on the battlefield.