Ukraine gave EU the second part of the completed questionnaire to get the status of a candidate for membership in the bloc, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said on Monday, TASS reports.
"Today we have made another step - one that’s very important and not just a formality - on our way toward the European Union," he said in a video address posted on Telegram. "Ukraine has given the second part of answers to a special questionnaire that every country that seeks to join the EU has to fill out."
"It usually takes months and months," he continued. "But we did everything in a matter of weeks."
On April 8, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen handed Zelensky a questionnaire that, when completed, will enable the EC to recommend to the EU Council to start discussing the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. On April 18, Zelensky handed over the first completed part of the questionnaire to the head of the EU Delegation in Kyiv.
The recommendation of the EC to the Council of the EU to start negotiations on admission is the first step to accession. Next, the country must agree with European negotiators on a set of conditions that it must meet. The negotiation process can take several years. Finland was the fastest to cover that path, taking 3 years, while Turkey started the talks in 2005 and still has no certain prospects for completing them.
