EU ambassador: No shortcuts for Ukraine to become EU member
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Matti Maasikas, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine tells Ukraine not to expect EU membership shortcuts.
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Matti Maasikas, an Estonian diplomat and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.
There are no quick or short routes for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union - accession of Kiev into the EU will be carried out "through work," said Matti Maasikas, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine said.
"There cannot be shortcuts or fast tracks to the membership itself. The EU covers so many areas, and at the very heart of the EU is the single market. And the single market cannot function if, in one part of it, not all rules, regulations, standards are being followed. So, a very thorough work needs to be done by the Ukrainians," Maasikas told Euronews.
Read more: Ukraine's accession to EU may take decades: Macron
Maasikas denied that Ukraine's massive accession questionnaire, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky handed to the ambassador upon submitting the application, was mostly filled out by EU officials rather than the actual government.
On February 28, Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine's accession into the EU, just a few days after the start of the war in Ukraine.
On June 23, European Union leaders agreed to grant both Ukraine and Moldova the EU candidacy status. A series of steps have been laid out by the EU for Kiev to take, including the reinforcement of the rule of law and fighting corruption.
