European Commission President says Ukraine meets 'almost everything' to join EU
(Baonghean.vn) - President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, said that Kiev is believed to have met "almost all" of the requirements to begin negotiations to join the European Union. However, experts say that this is just the EC's way of "warming up" public opinion before the summit.
“I am very impressed by the deep and structural reforms that Ukraine is pursuing, while at the same time waging a struggle for survival. Kiev has met all the necessary requirements in most of the seven steps that we asked them to take when they wanted to become a candidate country,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
Earlier, Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine was 90% ready for this dialogue, especially to continue the fight against corruption, as well as to introduce reforms to protect the rights of ethnic minorities.
Ukraine's immediate accession to the EU will depend on whether Ukraine implements reforms in the country.
However, on November 29, in an interview with France Inter radio, head of the European Council Charles Michel admitted that there is currently no agreement between EU countries to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU.
At the same time, Western journalists noted that a number of EU countries oppose Ukraine's accession to the bloc, in particular Austria, Hungary and France. According to experts, in this situation, the statement of the head of the EC is just a way to "warm up" European public opinion before the EU Summit in December, at which the participants can launch negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
Victoria Fedosova, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasting of the Peoples' Friendship University (RUDN), believes that the President of the EC is not allowed to speak on such topics, because in this way, Ms. von der Leyen bypasses the voices of the governments of the member states, which will make a collective decision on starting the negotiation process.
“Many EU members oppose Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. This is reflected in a number of economic and political decisions that go against the European Commission’s requirements. In particular, there is a boycott of plans to import grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Moreover, not only politicians but also ordinary people are dissatisfied,” Victoria Fedosova analyzed.
However, Fedosova believes that the US is “putting pressure on Brussels” on the issue of accepting Ukraine into the “ranks” of EU countries.
The formal decision on starting the negotiation process will be discussed at the EU Summit in Brussels on December 14-15.
