Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshyna said that a full consensus had been reached among the leaders of the European Union on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the EU, now discussions are on the format of the final decision. She said this on the air of the telethon, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"I can confirm that we have a full consensus of the leaders (of the EU). At the same time, discussions continue this week on the format of the final decision, each country has the opportunity to prescribe additional conditions, but I think that today's vote in parliament for truly historic bills such as waste management, which has not been accepted for 10 years due to certain interests, as well as the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, will outweigh this discourse,” she said.
Stefanyshyna stressed that the ratification of the Istanbul Convention by the Verkhovna Rada is very relevant now, since more than 5 million citizens of Ukraine, mostly women and children, are abroad and the ratification of the convention enables Ukraine to protect its citizens who are victims of violence, including domestic violence, with the infringement of their rights.
She noted that the mobilization of the parliament on bills important for integration into the EU demonstrated that Ukraine is able to overcome contradictions and unite for the sake of important decisions, and this is a confirmation of democracy and another argument for the EU decision on candidacy, which will be adopted on Friday, June 24.
Stefanyshyna declined to answer the question of how long it would take for Ukraine to become a member of the EU. She replied that Ukraine would not allow EU leaders to drag out discussions on this issue, but Ukraine would have to reform the country at war in order to become a competitive state and part of the EU market.
She noted that the main argument that persuaded skeptics to support the EU candidacy was that despite the war, Ukraine is a reliable partner.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on June 17, the European Commission recommended that the European Council grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for joining the European Union, but with conditions.
The final decision on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union will be made at the summit on June 23-24.
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