EU at this stage "not ready" to offer Ukraine a date for joining the bloc - Rinkēvičs and Kallas
Kyiv • UNN
The European Union is not yet ready to set a date for Ukraine's accession, as stated by Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs and EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas. They emphasize the need to resolve issues in the Western Balkans and Moldova, and also link Ukraine's membership to a peace agreement.
The European Union is not yet "ready" to offer Ukraine an accession date to the bloc at this stage. This was stated by Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs and EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, UNN reports with reference to The Guardian.
Details
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs offers his opinion on Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aspirations to set a specific date for his country's accession to the European Union as part of any future peace agreement.
He says: "We understand that we need Ukraine in the European Union," but, speaking to other EU leaders, he "got the feeling that at the moment, as we speak here in Munich in February, there is no readiness (to agree on) a date."
He says the bloc "wants to see Ukraine as soon as possible," but it needs to address two other issues as part of the process.
Rinkēvičs believes that the EU "must pay attention to the Western Balkans," as the EU "has a lot of credibility in the region" by not advancing their accession prospects.
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"We promised so many things in exchange for reforms, for example, changing the name of North Macedonia. We have promised them membership for so long."
And he adds that the EU cannot forget about Moldova.
"Yes, it's a small country, but if Ukraine joins, we cannot exclude Moldova from this, so it's no longer just about Ukraine," he says, adding that this will require "very serious discussion" on how to manage this process.
He says that "whether you like it or not," Ukraine's EU membership is "very closely linked to a peace agreement," but he says he is not optimistic about Russia's genuine involvement in the process for this to be agreed upon.
"If Russia doesn't move, then we won't have an agreement," he says.
EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas agrees: "I have the feeling that the member states are not ready to name a specific date. A lot of work needs to be done, but I think the priority... to move forward and show that Ukraine is part of Europe, is there," she says.