EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (63) arrived in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on Ukraine’s EU membership application.
Among other things, the top German politician wanted to discuss open points in the application for admission with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (44). Shortly after her arrival, she wrote on Twitter: “Nice to be back in Kyiv.” In Ukrainian she added: “Europe is with you”.
“We will take stock of the joint efforts needed for reconstruction and of Ukraine’s progress on its European path,” von der Leyen said on her arrival in the Ukrainian capital. “This will feed into our assessment, which we will present shortly.”
The European Commission is expected to publish its assessment next Friday on whether Ukraine should be granted candidate status for EU membership. Linked to such a recommendation would probably be reform commitments in areas such as the rule of law or the fight against corruption.
The decision on whether Ukraine will be granted candidate status lies with the EU states and must be taken unanimously. The EU summit on June 23-24 is supposed to deal with it – but the views of the countries sometimes differ widely, although the decision on candidate status does not anticipate the admission decision and is also not linked to a time frame. For example, Turkey has been an EU accession candidate since 1999.
► In March, shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, Ukraine submitted an application for acceptance into the EU. The EU states instructed the EU Commission to deal with it and to make a recommendation.
Von der Leyen in Kyiv for the second time
Von der Leyen’s trip to Kyiv is her second since the war began on February 24.
It was not publicly announced in advance for security reasons. In April, von der Leyen visited the Kiev suburb of Butscha, where war crimes had recently become public. At that time, she presented Selensky with the list of questions that her authority uses to assess Ukraine’s EU ambitions.
Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/dpa
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/ursula-von-der-leyen-im-april-in-butscha-cca3d5b621c14a4f91fddd6cc1fdc538-80367420/Bild/1.bild.jpg “/> Ursula von der Leyen in Bucha in AprilPhoto: Efrem Lukatsky/dpa
This week alone, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (67, Greens), Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (56, Greens) and Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (59, SPD) traveled to the country invaded by Putin.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (41, Greens) and Development Minister Svenja Schulze (53, SPD) had previously traveled to Ukraine. According to BILD information, Finance Minister Christian Lindner is also planning a visit to the country.
Unlike many other top European politicians, Scholz has NOT been in Kyiv since the start of the Ukraine war.