Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denis Shmigal has said that Kiev has «a very ambitious plan» to achieve its accession to the European Union (EU) within two years, including entering the preliminary stage of negotiations for joining the bloc in 2023.
«We have a very ambitious plan to join the EU in the next two years,» he said in statements granted to ‘Politico’ magazine. «We hope that this year, in 2023, we will be able to start the stage of pre-entry negotiations,» he added, although the bloc envisages that Kiev’s possible entry will take longer.
Thus, he expressed his hope that Ukraine could achieve «a substantial step forward» when the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, holds his next meeting with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Shmigal specified that this progress could be achieved in a number of areas, including an agreement on a visa-free regime for industrial goods, the suspension of tariffs for the export of Ukrainian goods for another year, «active progress» on joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and Ukraine’s inclusion in the bloc’s cell phone roaming area.
«We expect progress and acceleration of our path towards signing these agreements,» explained the Ukrainian prime minister, who stressed that the authorities have «zero tolerance» for corruption, following the latest scandals, which have led to the dismissal of dozens of high-ranking officials, including governors, deputy ministers and even the deputy advisor to the Ukrainian presidency.
In this line, he has stressed that the dismissals took place «at the speed of light» after the scandals broke out. «Unfortunately, corruption was not born yesterday, but we are sure that we will put an end to it,» he has said, before openly acknowledging that it is one of the crucial points in Kiev’s efforts to achieve its entry into the EU.
The Ukrainian prime minister has also hinted that the government is ready to revise its recent legislation on the Constitutional Court — which affects the process of appointing judges — to meet the European Commission’s demands, which could happen as early as this week. «We are holding consultations with the European Commission to see how all the conclusions issued can be incorporated into the text,» he concluded.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
