The Office of the President expects the first negotiation clusters with the EU to open soon
The Office of the President of Ukraine believes it is realistic to launch the first negotiation clusters as part of the European integration process in the very near future. Officials in Kyiv note that they currently see no significant obstacles to Ukraine’s advancement to the next stage of negotiations on accession to the European Union. This was stated on May 19 in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine by Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President.
The official was asked whether he considers President Zelenskyy’s hope that six clusters for opening EU accession negotiations will be launched in the near future to be realistic.
“These possibilities are entirely realistic. There are simply a number of technical steps that need to be taken right now. And the Cypriot presidency plays an important role here,” Zhovkva said, noting the “very active stance” of the President of Cyprus.
“The stance of the European Commission and the member states is important. We don’t see any negativity anywhere right now. There is a bureaucratic process, and it must be completed,” he added.
Zhovkva noted that Ukraine has completed all its “homework” and prepared the next necessary steps regarding both the key “Fundamentals” cluster and the issue of national minorities, which is the subject of consultations with Hungary.
“Therefore, I see no legal, bureaucratic, and, I very much hope, political obstacles to this happening very, very quickly,” he concluded.
Read also: France and Poland are the biggest obstacles to Ukraine’s EU accession process
The EU must open the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine as soon as possible — Koshta.
Hungary’s future Prime Minister Péter Magyar held talks with representatives of the European Union. The parties discussed the prospects of opening negotiation clusters as part of Ukraine’s EU accession process.
