Ukraine’s EU accession process could start this year if all EU member states are ready for it, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said Sunday (April 30) on Prima TV .
The statement comes on the heels of President Petr Pavel’s promise to press for Kyiv’s accession negotiations to be opened by the end of the year.
Mr. Pavel previously said that he would push for this, in line with the position of Czech diplomacy, which is also desired by Kyiv.
“There must be a consensus among all 27 EU member states,” Lipavský said. While many member states are skeptical, the Czech Republic is trying to allay their fears. Ukraine should meet all the conditions and “ cannot receive any favours ” in this regard, Lipavský said.
Ukraine was granted the status of a candidate country to join the European Union in 2022. Last year, it received from Brussels seven recommendations that it should follow to move closer to joining the Union .
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said in January that Ukraine had made good progress in implementing these recommendations, which relate to domestic policy and the judicial system, such as the fight against corruption and the procedure of approval of the judges of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court.
This article is originally published on euractiv.fr
