A senior EU official told a news conference before the meeting that Friday’s EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv was a “very strong signal” of support.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels this week, a senior EU official said that holding the meeting in Kyiv during the Russian invasion “is a signal first and foremost to Ukrainians of personal support for their presence.”
“It’s a signal, of course, to Russia as well,” the official added.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday accompanied by her commissioners ahead of the summit.
This is the 24th summit between the EU and Ukraine, but the first since the beginning of the Russian invasion and also since the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate country.
The leaders are expected to discuss Ukraine’s progress toward full membership in the European Union, the response to Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, and increased support for Ukraine and global food security.
The official said that “the question of whether Ukraine will join the European family has been answered decisively with yes, and the question of whether this is the case.”
However, they did not want to speculate about the end of this process, because it takes years for a country to become a full member of the European Union.
A second senior EU official has praised Ukraine’s recent anti-corruption efforts, including the recent change of government amid a growing corruption scandal.
“Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard, and we are working with Ukraine on this,” the official added.
On January 24, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said that “anti-corruption measures are of course an important dimension of the EU accession process”.
“Creator. Social network follower and hipster. Web enthusiast. Passionate alcohol fanatic.” »
