Flags of Ukraine and the European Union (Photo:Dusan_Cvetanovic / pixabay)
It is not possible for Ukraine
to become a member of the European
Union while Russian troops occupy part of its territory, the European Commission Vice
President Frans Timmermans said in an interview with German broadcaster DW on Jan. 9.
Timmermans said while Ukraine deserves all
possible support to overcome the aggression and to make its choice after the
win, joining the EU while
parts of the country are under Russian occupation is not an option.
“No, it’s impossible,” he said. “But the whole idea is to
make sure that Ukraine comes out of this conflict victorious, sovereign,
independent, free, and has the opportunity to make this choice itself. And I
think Ukraine is fighting to make this happen. The European Union should
support them with every means it has.”
EU leaders granted Ukraine and
Moldova candidate status on June 23. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the granting of this status a historical
moment in relationships between Ukraine and the EU.
Ukraine and the European Union
will hold a summit in Kyiv on Feb.3.
The European Council invited the
European Commission to report on the candidate countries’ implementation of membership conditions, and promised
to decide on further steps “as
soon as all these conditions are fully met.”
In early December, the Minister
for Climate and Europe at the German Foreign Office, Anne Lührmann, said
Ukraine has made significant progress in implementing the reforms needed to become an EU member, so
accession talks could start
shortly.
At his speech at a meeting of the
European Council on Dec. 15,
Zelenskyy called on the EU to move further in Ukraine-EU rapprochement, as well as to speed up talks.
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