KIEV, June 24. /TASS/. Ukraine can hope for being admitted to the European Union not earlier than 2029, a senior Ukrainian government official in charge of European integration said on Friday.
"Ukraine can count on EU membership not earlier than 2029," Ukraine’s UNIAN agency quoted Natalia Forsyuk, director general of the governmental office for coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, as saying.
According to Forsyuk, Kiev plans to begin negotiation procedures on accession to the European Union early next year.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier that such talks should be preceded by a set of reforms. The negotiating process may take an indefinitely tong time and the candidate status gives no guarantees of the admission to the European Union.
However, Forsyuk said she hopes that the candidate status will give access to the European Union’s structural funds, which will provide financial assistance to Ukraine. "Only candidate countries enjoy access to these funds. Money is granted on privileged terms, practically for free," she explained.
The European Union and Ukraine signed a partnership agreement in 1994. In 2002, Ukraine was granted a special neighbor status, which simplified migration control with EU countries. In 2014, Kiev and Brussels signed an association agreement, which was agreed in 2007-2011. Visa-free travel was established between the EU and Ukraine in 2017, but it did not grant rights for residence, employment or education in the EU. In the winter of 2019, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or national parliament, committed to paper in the country’s constitution its course toward joining the European Union.
On February 28, 2022, Kiev applied for EU membership and the EU summit on June 23 granted a EU-candidate status to Ukraine. Now, it is to be formally endorsed by the European Parliament. However, some European leaders, in particular French President Emmanuel Macron, admit that it was largely a politically-motivated decision. Thus, according to Macron, Ukraine would have never been granted a candidate status in "normal conditions." Nevertheless, he stressed that it was the right decision but Kiev will have to comply with many requirements.