Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his country’s goal was to access the European Union by 2027.
“Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is one of the key security guarantees not only for us, but also for all of Europe. After all, Europe’s collective strength is possible, in particular, thanks to Ukraine’s security, technological, and economic contributions,” Zelenskiy wrote on X after a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Christian Stocker.
Zelenskiy stressed that Kyiv was counting on the partners’ support for its EU accession. Ukraine’s quick accession was announced in December last year as part of US-led peace talks. On Monday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić claimed that Ukraine’s quick accession was a key condition for a planned ceasefire during the ongoing US-brokered peace talks.
“Part of the plan is that Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union on Jan. 1, 2027. That’s practically tomorrow. I’m telling you what I heard somewhere, and I wouldn’t tell you that it’s not true,” Vučić said according to a Serbian media outlet.
It should be noted that Moscow has not opposed Ukraine’s EU accession, with the Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating in February last year that the EU membership was Kyiv’s “sovereign right”. However, the Kremlin is against Ukraine’s members of the NATO. Ukraine applied for the EU membership in February 2022 and engaged in membership talks with EU council in December 2023. However, Hungary has been blocking the negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership. Ukraine has yet to complete EU’s 30 negotiating chapters, so aiming for accession in 2027 would mark a break from the bloc’s usual merit-based process.
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