Maternova was surprised by the media's reaction to the European Commission's positive report on Ukraine
Katarina Maternová, the European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine, expressed surprise at the media’s reaction to the European Commission’s positive report on Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership. According to her, after the document was released, journalists focused primarily on comparing Ukraine with Moldova.
“In fact, this report is very positive for Ukraine; it provides serious grounds for optimism, but it also clearly outlines requirements regarding legislative work and institutional development in Ukraine. The report also emphasizes that these processes must be accelerated, as there is currently a historic ‘window of opportunity’ open,” Maternova noted.
At the same time, the diplomat noted that she was surprised by the large number of negative assessments in the press and, in particular, by the “obsession” with comparing Ukraine to Moldova.
“I was somewhat surprised by the reaction in the media, which effectively shifted the focus to Moldova, despite the very positive conclusions in the report (regarding Ukraine—ed.),” the ambassador said.
She emphasized that comparing the two countries’ progress toward the EU must take into account the circumstances in which they find themselves. According to her, Moldova fulfilled certain interim requirements more quickly, but Ukraine is forced to push forward with reforms amid a full-scale war.
The ambassador also explained that the assessment of candidate countries’ progress involves two distinct matrices, which should not be confused—although even experts sometimes do so.
The first matrix concerns changes achieved over the past year and determines how far a country has progressed in meeting specific requirements. In this context, there are clear observations regarding Ukraine and a significant amount of work that still needs to be done, Maternova noted.
The second matrix reflects the cumulative progress of reforms since the beginning of the transformations following the Revolution of Dignity. In this context, she emphasized that in the 12 years since then, “a great many institutions have been established and a great many laws have been passed.”
“All of this has been documented and taken into account. So when people say that the rating given to Ukraine by the European Commission in the report is undeserved, that’s not true, because it takes into account cumulative overall progress,” the EU ambassador explained.
Maternova also noted that, compared to previous waves of EU enlargement, Ukraine’s challenges in the process of European integration are becoming more complex, as the volume of EU legislation (acquis communautaire) that must be implemented has significantly increased.
The diplomat made these remarks during a public discussion titled “Beyond the Headlines: Assessing Ukraine’s Progress as an EU Candidate Country,” according to a Ukrinform correspondent.
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