MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is a reality while its membership in NATO is not as of yet, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olga Stefanishina has said.
"Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is already a reality, it is a ready decision. <…> We can check it off. Further on, there will be long processes. In other words, this is a reality, it has already happened. As for NATO, this is not a reality yet. <…> This decision has been made strategically that Ukraine will be a NATO member. It has been committed to paper. This is a conscious decision of all the 30 leaders but I cannot say when [Ukraine joins NATO]," she said in an interview with the Ukrainskaya Pravda news outlet, which was posted on YouTube.
According to Stefanishina, NATO is already thinking about Ukraine’s potential contribution to the alliance’s "collective security." "A decision on Ukraine’s NATO membership will be made overnight, she said, citing pledges of the US partners. Kiev, in her words, will be ready for joining the alliance by that time.
She also said that two years will be enough for Ukraine to get prepared to join the European Union.
On November 8, the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, recommended that the EU Council start accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine, and grant candidate status to Georgia. EC President Ursula von der Leyen announced the decision while presenting the annual report on EU enlargement in Brussels. If the EU heads of state and government approve these recommendations at their meeting in mid-December, negotiations on Ukraine's accession can begin at the end of March 2024.
Before that, all candidates will have to meet a number of conditions, the most important of which is strengthening the fight against corruption. EU Ambassador to Kiev Katarina Mathernova specified that Ukraine would have to increase the staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, amend the law on the declaration of property, enact a law on lobbying in line with European standards, and fulfill the recommendations of the Venice Commission on the status of national minorities.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly said that it is time to invite Ukraine to NATO. In late September 2022, he signed an application for NATO membership in an accelerated procedure. Later, European Union’s Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said that Ukraine cannot be admitted to NATO amid hostilities in its territory. Nevertheless, Ukraine’s authorities expected to receive an invitation to the alliance at its summit in Vilnius in July. However, no decision on when Kiev could be invited was made.