Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva has said that Ukraine expects the remaining five negotiating clusters to open as soon as possible as part of its EU accession process.
"The European Parliament has always been several steps ahead of other European Union institutions in supporting Ukraine. We highly value this principled position. At the same time, today it is the member states that must make the political decisions that will allow us to maintain the pace of the negotiation process. We expect that a decision to open the remaining five negotiating clusters will be made in the near future," he said during a meeting with a delegation of the European Parliament to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, headed by its Chair, Pekka Toveri.
Special attention was paid to Ukraine’s compliance with the criteria for European Union membership.
Zhovkva said that if the Copenhagen criteria included a security criterion, "Ukraine would already be a champion of integration."
In turn, Toveri said that today it is impossible to ensure Europe’s security without Ukraine’s help. He expressed support for Ukraine’s continued progress toward full membership in the European Union.
At the end of the meeting, on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ihor Zhovkva presented Pekka Toveri with the Order of Merit, III class.
