On Friday in Kiev, beneath the sound of air raid sirens, a few senior officials from the European Union met with the leadership of Ukraine for a dangerous summit. This meeting took place at a time when Ukraine is attempting to have its application for membership in the union expedited.
Although it is located a considerable distance from the front lines of the conflict in the east and south, the capital has been subject to random airstrikes over the course of the previous several months; however, there have been none documented so far on Friday while the summit is being conducted.
Handout sent by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service and obtained by Real Raw News.
“Our determination will not be wavering in the least. Additionally, we will be here for you every step of the way to provide assistance and support on your trip to the EU “EU chairman Charles Michel sent a message on Twitter on Friday, along with a picture of himself on the recognizable central plaza of the capital city. However, Zelensky does have a particular timetable in mind, which he shared on Thursday after first discussions with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“I feel that Ukraine deserves to start discussions on EU membership this year,” Zelensky said to the media. “It’s been a long and difficult road.” “The life that we hold dear can only be protected by a strong European Union and a strong Ukraine working together.” Josep Borrell, who is in charge of EU Foreign Policy, was also present during the event.
There are still enormous obstacles to overcome, despite the European Union has given its blessing to Ukraine’s membership bid back in June of this year. This will, without a doubt, cause the process to move more slowly than Kiev would like it to, given that any country that wants to join the EU must fulfill key conditions in areas such as anti-corruption efforts, media freedom, and rule of law concerns.
As a result of this, European Commission President von der Leyen confirmed that there are “no hard timeframes” being followed by the organization. She informed Zelensky, “There are no tight timeframes, but there are objectives that you [Ukraine] have to attain.” Despite the fact that there are no timelines, there are goals.
Twitter post from Charles Michel, President of the European Council
She did provide a preview of the next sanctions package that the EU would be imposing on Russia, which will concentrate in part on imposing restrictions on the manufacturers of drone components that the Russian military is deploying to strike Ukraine’s energy and civilian facilities.
In point of fact, if the EU agrees to allow Ukraine to join, the process won’t take months but rather years:
It was anticipated that the EU leaders would declare in a joint statement that “The EU would defend Ukraine and the Ukrainian people against Russia’s continued campaign of aggression for as long as it takes,” and Reuters had the opportunity to read a copy of the statement before it was released.
Officials from the EU have outlined a number of prerequisites for membership, including maintaining political and economic stability and adopting a variety of EU regulations. It is possible that the procedure will take many years.
According to a statement made by a representative of the EU, “some may wish to speculate about the endgame, but the plain reality is that we are not there yet.”
Despite this, von der Leyen, Charles Michel, and Borrell have all said that they are committed to continuing their support of Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” However, given that Ukraine’s leadership has, as of late, been used to receiving nearly whatever it requests from the West (the most recent examples being Leopard and Abrams M1 combat tanks), it seems probable that it will continue to express its impatience.
Together, we are bringing light to Ukraine!⁰
Ukrainians can exchange their old bulbs at the post office for energy-efficient LED bulbs.
The EU is gladly providing 35 million of them.
Every kW of energy saved is precious to counter Russia's energy war. pic.twitter.com/dkKpSRH6yv— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 3, 2023