A “positive news” for Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the support of Brussels, while the European Commission recommended, on Friday June 17, to grant Ukraine the status of candidate to the European Union. In his evening video address, the Ukrainian President hailed a “historic success of all those who work for our State”.
The Commission’s opinion will be discussed Thursday and Friday at a European summit, where the 27 EU leaders will have to give the green light – unanimously – for kyiv to officially obtain this status. For Volodymyr Zelensky, who “waiting for a positive result” at this peak, “This is the first step on the road to EU membership. Ukraine “deserves this positive news”he estimated. “Our rapprochement with the European Union is not only positive for us. It is the greatest contribution to the future of Europe for many years”.
“We all know that Ukrainians are ready to die for their European aspirations. We want them to live with us, for the European dream”European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels earlier today, dressed in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine. “The Commission recommends to the Council, firstly, to give Ukraine a European perspective and, secondly, to grant it candidate status“, she added, the day after the visit to kyiv of the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, the first three European powers which delivered the same message.
Speaking at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, President Vladimir Putin for his part said on Friday that Russia had no “nothing against” accession of Ukraine to the EU, but affirmed that “Ukraine will turn into a semi-colony” of western countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova was more direct: “For years, the Western community has been manipulating this story of Ukraine’s involvement in their integration structures, and since then Ukraine has been going from bad to worse,” she told Russian agencies.