No obstacles to opening all negotiating clusters in Ukraine EU accession process - Kachka
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka states that there are no obstacles to Ukraine's accession to the European Union and expects other clusters to be opened in the near future.
He said this in Brussels on Tuesday upon arriving at the meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference on Ukraine's accession to the EU. "Ukraine's accession process is going on without any interruptions. This is indeed good news. Of course, there were higher expectations driven by a general sense of momentum, but we are glad that all member states are involved in the process, and we see no significant obstacles to the accession process," Kachka said.
According to him, the Ukrainian side is currently focusing on fulfilling the accession criteria, "specifically the rule of law benchmarks, and preparing an interim benchmark assessment report." "So this is indeed a good pace for the accession process," the Deputy Prime Minister believes.
Answering a question about opening other clusters, Kachka noted that a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU Member States is expected as early as this week, where the remaining four clusters are expected to be discussed. "So we expect news at any time. We know for sure that there are no interruptions, no postponements until after this summer break," he is convinced.
Commenting at the request of journalists on the possible impact of a change of government in Ukraine on the integration process, Kachka said: "No. You see, this is an unconditional priority for the Ukrainian government, both for the negotiations to proceed and for the reform process. Therefore, we believe that the new government will be a better, more efficient team that will tackle both the urgent and extraordinary challenges related to the resilience of our cities, of our country in preparation for winter, as well as structural reforms required for the accession process."