European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to discuss Ukraine’s application to join the European Union.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived today, Saturday, in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on a visit devoted to discussing Ukraine’s request to join the European Union and the reconstruction of the country.
“I returned to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denis Shmyal, and we will review the necessary joint work on reconstruction and the progress made by Ukraine on the path to Europe,” von der Leyen told reporters accompanying her on her visit.
“This will feed into our assessment, which we will present soon,” the European Commission president added.
“We support Ukraine on the path to joining the European Union,” she said during her visit to Ukraine, today, Saturday.
The European Commission is due to give its opinion on the matter in the coming days, before EU leaders decide whether to grant Ukraine official candidate status at a summit on June 23-24.
Ukraine is demanding a concrete “legal commitment” from the Europeans by the end of June to grant it the status of an official EU candidate country, but the 27 countries are divided on the issue.
While many countries, especially from Eastern Europe, support Ukraine’s membership, some countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as France and Germany, which holds the presidency of the Union until the end of June, express strong reservations.
Even if Ukraine attains “candidate status”, it will begin a process of negotiations and potential reforms that might take years, if not decades, before its inclusion in the European Union. Several EU countries have warned Kyiv that there will be no “fast track” for their accession.
This is von der Leyen’s second visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24. During her first visit on April 8, she emphasized that Ukraine has “European future“.
He was the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky In late February, he announced that he had signed a formal application for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.