Germany is working to accelerate Ukraine's accession to the EU
Germany is advocating for Ukraine to move more quickly toward membership in the European Union. Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Berlin is already working on this with its partners in Brussels. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of reforms in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
Germany wants to accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and is already working on this with partners in Brussels. German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz made this statement during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
According to Merz, Germany supports Ukraine’s faster progress toward EU membership. To this end, Berlin is working with other European partners. “We want to accelerate Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. We want to speed up the process, and we are working toward that in Brussels,” Merz said. The chancellor noted that he also discussed Ukraine’s European prospects with Zelenskyy during their talks in Kyiv. This involves not only political support but also Ukraine’s continued work on the necessary reforms.
Merz specifically mentioned changes in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption. According to him, Ukraine continues to make progress in these areas, and he views the Ukrainian government’s willingness to move forward positively. “I very much welcome the fact that the President has once again assured us of this. After all, these reforms are important for the disbursement of further financial assistance. The government and parliament share a special responsibility here,” the chancellor stated.
Thus, Berlin links Ukraine’s further progress toward the EU not only to political support from member states but also to Ukraine’s implementation of the necessary reforms. At the same time, Merz announced that during further talks with Zelenskyy, he plans to discuss in greater detail his previous proposal regarding Ukraine’s associate membership.
The chancellor had spoken about this idea earlier. It envisages a separate framework for Ukraine’s rapprochement with the European Union, which could precede full membership. However, Merz did not provide any new details regarding a possible timeline for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. His current statement specifically concerns Germany’s desire to accelerate this process and its cooperation with partners in Brussels.
Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in 2022. Following this, Kyiv began the negotiation process and must implement a series of reforms and meet requirements necessary for further progress toward membership. At present, Germany confirms that it supports Ukraine’s continued rapprochement with the European Union. At the same time, specific decisions regarding the pace of negotiations and future membership must be made jointly at the EU level.
Ukraine has agreed to participate in a trilateral technical meeting with the United States and Russia. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. side has proposed holding the meeting by the end of October in the United Arab Emirates or another country. Now it is up to the Russians to respond.
