No one can name timeframe for Ukraine to join EU but being ambitions is good – Maasikas

This was stated by the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, in an interview with the Suspilne public broadcaster, published in Ukrainians, Ukrinform reports.

"At this stage, no one can set any dates for the accession. After the start of membership negotiations, it is up to the candidate country itself to determine the pace at which we move forward," said Maasikas.

The EU ambassador noted that the negotiation process is largely related to a deep study of the extent to which a candidate country has adted and implemented Eurean legislation, and then evaluating these steps and portunities to move forward.

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“So it really depends on a candidate country. At the same time, it is not bad to be ambitious and set decisive goals," the diplomat noted.

In this context, he recalled the time when he was a young Estonian civil servant as a new government came to power in Estonia in 1999.

"Negotiations (on Estonia's accession to the EU. – ed.) continued, but this government said: ‘We want to be ready by the end of 2001.’ And it really helped to focus. I’m observing this in Ukraine as well," Maasikas noted.

As reported, President Vodymyr Zelensky today noted that Ukraine's application for EU membership was signed a year ago, and called for the negotiation process to begin.

On June 23, 2022, the heads of state and government of the Eurean Union adted a decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate country for EU membership.