European Council President Charles Michel told French TV station BFM on Monday that the European Union will have a debate about adding Ukraine as a member of the bloc.
“This is a debate which, in any case, will be held,” Michel told the French television station, Reuters reported. He said the bloc already has a “very powerful” association agreement with Ukraine.
According to him, Ukraine's application was symbolic, and there is no unity in the expansion of the Union.
"It will be hard. We know there are different views in Europe," said Michel.
Today, the European Parliament accepted Ukraine's application for EU membership. A special admission procedure has been launched.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told another French TV station, Euronews, that Ukraine is “one of us and we want them in the European Union.”
Ukraine applied for membership to the European Union, according to a tweet by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. The tweet included a photo of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky holding up a document.
“President Zelensky signed EU membership application for Ukraine. This is the choice of [Ukrainian flag] and Ukrainian people. We more than deserve it,” Shmyhal said.
Zelensky has asked the European Union to fast-track Ukraine’s membership, an arduous process that can take years. Croatia, the last country to join the bloc, waited 10 years before its application was formally accepted in 2013.
“It is a crucial moment to close the long-standing discussion once and for all and decide on Ukraine’s membership in the EU,” Zelensky tweeted Saturday, saying he discussed with Michel “further effective assistance and the heroic struggle of Ukrainians for their free future.”
Candidates for inclusion must adopt established EU law and enact reforms, including to their judicial and economic systems. The process requires the unanimous approval of all 27 member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament, Bloomberg reported.
Slovak Republic President Zuzana Čaputová tweeted that “Ukraine is Europe. And it should be in the European Union too. I endorse President Zelensky’s call for the EU to make a decisive step towards Ukraine’s EU membership. The time is now. We stand with Ukraine.”
