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EU countries struggle to determine integration pattern for Ukraine — newspaper

According to the paper, France and other countries are holding private discussions on alternatives to Ukraine’s full EU membership

PARIS, April 23. /TASS/. European Union countries continue discussions of Ukraine’s accession to the group but they have so far been unable to determine an integration pattern for Kiev, the French newspaper Le Monde reported, citing a source.

According to the paper, France and other countries are holding private discussions on alternatives to Ukraine’s full EU membership. "However, this has yielded no political outcome yet," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

Le Monde pointed out that the European Commission had earlier considered granting membership to Ukraine and gradually providing the country with the relevant rights, but the idea was not developed further. Later, Germany suggested making Ukraine an associate EU member but the initiative did not work out.

The newspaper noted that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the main opponent of Ukraine’s EU integration. Meanwhile, many other countries that support accession talks but are not necessarily ready to see Ukraine integrate into the EU took advantage of Hungary’s stance.

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