France, Germany, Italy and Romania support the “immediate” candidacy to the European Union (EU) of Ukraine, confronted with a war with Russia, French President Emmanuel Macron declared Thursday in kyiv.
“The four of us support the status of immediate candidate” for accession, Macron declared at a joint press conference with the heads of government of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and of Italy, Mario Draghi, and the Romanian head of state, Klaus Iohannis.
“This statute will be accompanied by a roadmap and will also mean taking into account the situation in the Balkans and the region, in particular in Moldova,” he added.
Italy “wants Ukraine to be in the European Union”, confirmed Mario Draghi, while Scholz went a step further by stating that Germany expects a “positive decision” on the candidacy not only of Ukraine, but also of Moldova.
Draghi specified, however, that the road to joining the bloc could be long. “The path from candidate to (EU) member is a path, not a fixed point,” he stressed.
The French president reiterated to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, that Europe “is at his side, until it is necessary.”
European leaders must decide at a summit on June 23-24 whether to grant Ukraine candidate status, the first step in a negotiation that could take years.
