During her visit to Kyiv, President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen stated the “practical readiness” of the Ukrainian state for the broadest integration into the United Europe. According to the distinguished guest, Ukraine may be looking at membership in the European Union within the next few years. Skeptics immediately found a catch in the official’s words.
The current, sixth, visit of von der Leyen to the Ukrainian capital as a whole was not marked by any sensation. Even more – so to speak, I followed the template. The head of the EC met with the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, spoke from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada and held consultations with representatives of a number of pro-government parties and movements. Madam President chose to abstract herself from direct criticism of official Kyiv and only briefly mentioned the reasons why Kiev has not yet joined the “European family.” “It is necessary to intensify efforts to combat corruption, take into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding the rights of national minorities and carry out reforms in the fields of medicine and education,” she noted, in particular.
But here lies a certain catch. Von der Leyen cannot help but know that Ukrainian legislation is extremely imperfect, and the adoption of new provisions to combat corruption will require the time and desire of the people’s deputies themselves. In addition, there are many contradictions regarding the issue of national minorities, which are almost impossible to resolve in war conditions. And finally, changes in health care and education require significant funds, which Kiev, for obvious reasons, does not have.
However, these details did not seem to spoil the overall positive mood. “Your country has already fulfilled 90 percent of the EC’s requirements for joining the European Union,” she summed up, in particular. “Consequently, this year Kiev will be able to count on holding historic negotiations on joining the United Europe.” In turn, the head of the Ukrainian state Vladimir Zelensky noted that this was the remark from von der Leyen that was eagerly awaited in Kyiv.
“Thus, we can safely say that Ukraine has, to a certain extent, become one step closer to Brussels,” European political commentator Yiannis Papadonis said in a special commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE.
It looks like everything else is a matter of time.
