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Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Ukraine will not be fast-tracked into EU - Austrian Minister

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 8 May 2022 09:35
2 Min Read

Austria's EU Affairs Minister says Ukraine's accession to the European Union will take more than a decade.

  • x
  • Austrian EU Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler
    Austrian EU Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler

Despite the EU Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen's insistence that Ukraine will be fast-tracked into the European Union, Austria's EU Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler has predicted that the process will take more than a decade.

Giving the Ukrainian President a questionnaire that forms a starting point for the membership decision, von der Leyen said, "It will not, as usual, be a matter of years to form this opinion but I think a matter of weeks." Zelensky has stated he would provide the response within a week.

However, Edtstadler said that Ukraine will not join the EU bloc within the next decade.

It would be "a long process to adjust to, which certainly cannot be achieved in the next five to ten years," Edtstadler told Austria’s APA news agency on Wednesday. She also added that some Balkan states have been waiting "for decades" to join the union, meaning there could be no fast track for Kiev.

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Before Edtstadler, Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said Ukraine should instead pursue an association agreement with the EU, or try for integration into the European Economic Area. 

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disappointment with the Austrian Foreign Minister's comments, calling them "strategically short-sighted and not in the interests of a united Europe. Such statements also ignore the fact that the majority of the population of the EU founding countries supports Ukraine's membership."

The statement further pointed out that Ukraine is "protecting Europe", and so has the right to demand recognition. "Thanks to the indestructible will and courage of the president of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, Europe today can live in peace. Without exaggeration, our state has become an outpost of protection of EU security, European freedom, and European values," the spokesperson added.

The EU Commission evaluates everything when assessing a country's bid for membership, from economic performance to the legal system, as well as environmental and agricultural practices, which can take decades. Turkey for example has been a candidate country since 1999.

Germany and the Netherlands have both said that expediting Ukraine's membership is not something that can be fast-tracked.

  • Ukraine
  • war in Ukraine
  • Ukraine crisis
  • EU
  • European Union
  • Austria
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