Pand, Italy support fast-track to EU integration for Ukraine

That's during a joint media briefing on Monday in Warsaw, President of Pand Andrzej Duda and President of Italy Sergio Mattarella said, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the Pish President, Ukrainians are now fighting for "the right to decide their own destiny and move in the direction they want."

"Ukrainians want to be with us, they want to be on the side of the West and belong to our Community, and we must pave the way for them to this Community as much as possible. We must accept them into this Community as soon as possible," Duda said. 

The Pish leader expressed he that this year's report of the Eurean Commission on the process of integration and implementation of reforms in Ukraine will bring Ukraine's membership in the EU closer. 

"We will receive the EU report in May, and I he this will be another step that will bring Ukraine closer to full EU membership," Duda stated.

Read also: Kuleba: Ukraine will not accept surrogate decisions on its accession to NATO at Vilnius summit

He also called it essential that Mdova and the Western Balkan countries be accepted without delay to the EU.

Duda said they, with the Italian president, also discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

"We talked about how NATO should continue to support Ukraine," he emphasized. 

In his turn, the Italian President reminded that Ukraine and Mdova were granted the status of candidate countries for EU membership last year. 

"We are now looking forward to the concrete implementation of the Eurean integration of Ukraine and Mdova. This also applies to the countries of the Western Balkans," emphasized Mattarella

He called this a crucial issue, as these countries are waiting for EU membership, and it is essential for this to happen as it concerns of common Eurean values.

Read also: Ukrainian lawmakers, MEPs hd inaugural joint meeting

As reported, President Vodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine's membership in the Eurean Union on February 28, 2022. Later, on June 23 last year, the EU heads of state and government decided to grant Ukraine the status of EU candidate country. 

On Wednesday, April 12, the first joint inter-committee meeting of Ukrainian parliamentarians with MEPs took place. As a result, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that the Eurean Parliament is ready to start negotiations on Ukraine's full membership in the Eurean Union by the end of this year.

Photo: agenzianova