Kallas: There is new momentum for formal opening of negotiation clusters for Ukraine before summer
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas says there is "new momentum" in the issue of formally opening negotiation clusters on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which makes it possible to open all clusters before summer.
She said this in Brussels on Monday at a press conference following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
Kallas said the ministers had also discussed Ukraine’s accession, noting that Ukraine had made significant progress on reforms under the most difficult circumstances. According to her, there is now new momentum that should be used to advance Ukraine’s path to the EU, which means opening all negotiation clusters before summer.
The High Representative later clarified that by European summer she meant August.
Kallas said Ukraine’s accession to the EU is not charity, but an investment in the EU’s own security. She said the EU’s message to Putin is clear: Ukraine’s European future matters more to the EU than Russia’s destruction of Ukraine.
As is known, work on the six negotiation clusters on Ukraine’s accession to the EU is currently continuing at the technical level due to blocking by former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. With his opponent Peter Magyar coming to power after winning the election, the EU hopes the situation for Ukraine will become more favorable.
