Official negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU should begin by the end of the first half of 2024, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said at a press conference in Kyiv.
“The accession negotiations should start as soon as possible, and I am optimistic that the EU member states can approve the negotiating framework in June,” she said.
Because Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council begins on July 1, it is important to make the necessary decisions before then, during the Belgian presidency.
Metsola also assured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine will maintain its support for the European Parliament, despite the election of a new convocation of this body. She recalled that the European Parliament “was the first European institution that called for Ukraine to be granted candidate status, and then the first EU institution that called for the start of accession negotiations.”
In her turn, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, considers Ukraine’s accession to the EU in 2030 quite real.