Ukraine's EU accession talks to start in June — Roberta Metsola
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Official negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union are set to begin as early as June 2024, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced during a briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on May 9.
"The European Parliament will help Ukraine in any way possible to advance along the necessary steps on its European path," Metsola said.
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Ukraine will remain a priority for the European Union, she said. The European Parliament "was the first European Union institution to call for granting Ukraine candidate status, and later to open the accession negotiations," Metsola said.
The European Union supports all 10 points of Ukraine's "peace plan."
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"We hope that the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland will yield real practical outcomes," she said.
"We need peace with justice, with freedom, and with dignity. Nothing can be decided without full agreement Ukrainians."
Ukraine's accession to the EU
Ukraine had implemented 65-70% of the Association Agreement with the EU, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal said in a TV interview with Bloomberg in September 2022. At the same time, at a press conference in Brussels, he said: "We have an ambition in the near future, by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, to move into the negotiation procedures that precede the actual granting of EU membership."
Shmyhal said in May 2023 that Ukraine should be ready to join the EU in two years.
The European Commission recommended starting negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the EU on Nov. 8, 2023. The European Council supported the start of negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership with 26 votes on Dec. 14.
Read also: Ukraine fulfilled its obligations for EU membership talks — Zelenskyy
Ukraine could join the European Union in 2030, European Council President Charles Michel said previously.
Shmyhal said on March 20, 2024 that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union should begin by the end of June this year.
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