Ukraine is keen to join the European Union (EU) as it seeks to break with Russia and forge closer ties with the West. To open the door to the EU, Ukraine needs the consent of all 27 member states.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on April 11 that his country would not stand in the way of Kiev's EU membership. Fico made the statement at a press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Michalovce, eastern Slovakia.
Elected last September on a populist, Ukraine-skeptical platform, Prime Minister Fico has ended arms supplies to Kiev from Slovakia's military stockpiles and has repeatedly criticized both defense assistance to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
But Mr Fico has also said he is not opposed to Ukraine becoming an EU member if Kiev meets all the criteria for accession.
“This is not speculation. This is absolute support,” Mr. Fico said. “We are not a country that will hinder you. On the contrary, we want to help, to share our experience with you.”
Regarding the EU accession negotiations, Bratislava wants Kiev to “quickly” become a member of the EU, “because this is a guarantee for Ukraine's prospects and peaceful development,” the Slovak Prime Minister said.
The leader also said that Slovakia is ready to cooperate militarily with Ukraine on a commercial basis and offered assistance in mine clearance.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Michalovce, Slovakia, April 11, 2024. Photo: Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine is to apply to join the EU in 2022, just weeks after Russia launched a military operation in the Eastern European country.
At the European Council summit last December, European leaders agreed to open membership talks with Kiev.
In mid-March this year, the European Commission (EC) proposed a draft framework for membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, another candidate seeking to join the bloc.
Kiev believes that negotiations on the country's accession to the EU could begin in the first half of 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmyhal said, speaking alongside Slovak Prime Minister Fico.
Ukraine is keen to join the EU as it seeks to break with Russia and forge closer ties with the West. To open the door to the EU, Ukraine needs the consent of all 27 member states.
However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban does not think like his Slovak counterpart. At his annual press conference in Budapest in late December, Mr. Orban stated that his opposition to Ukraine joining the EU stems from a desire to help the country through more immediate measures.
“If we want to help Ukraine, we should offer something real,” Mr Orban said, explaining that EU membership was unrealistic because the process would take years, especially as Ukraine remained mired in conflict.
Instead, the Hungarian populist leader asserted, a “strategic partnership” between the EU and Ukraine would yield “immediate” results and benefit “most importantly for the Ukrainian people and support them in that way”.
He called the start of accession talks “a nice political gesture but in reality it does nothing for the Ukrainian people . ”
Minh Duc (According to Kyiv Independent, Balkan Insight)
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