EU Ambassador: Ukraine Already Fulfilled Main Political Requirements for EU Membership

25.08.2022, 09:48 eurointegration.com.ua

The Russian army can be defeated in Ukraine's internationally recognized territory, including Crimea. Nuclear weapons will not be used because even Putin still has some rationality. Zelensky should decide what to consider a victory for Ukraine, but he will consider public opinion, which doesn't like compromises. We discussed this with Matti Maasikas, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine. "Your situation is better than Estonia's 25 years ago" - I will start with a question about the most significant event in relations with the EU. Ukraine obtained candidate status. What does this mean for us? - The European Commission, in its opinion on Ukraine's application, has made it clear it should meet big political conditions. Otherwise, no European perspective at all. Adoption and implementation of the EU law will be a huge challenge. Ukraine is now in a better situation than Estonia was 25 years ago. Because Ukraine covered many legal aspects under the Association agreement, it is not only the legislation. You should also adopt EU standards and regulations. They are very high. Some of these standards are very costly. It will be a big challenge for Ukraine. All the countries that joined the EU had GDPs lower than the EU members. They also faced EU environmental standards that were very costly.