Ukraine has officially started the process of joining the European Union by filling out a questionnaire, which is the starting point for the European Union to decide on its membership.
“I can announce that the Ukrainian side has completed the document”, said Ihor Zhovkva, deputy chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, to the Ukrainian public broadcasting service.
He added that the European Commission will now have to issue a recommendation on Ukraine’s compliance with the necessary membership criteria.
“We expect the recommendation to be positive, and then the ball will be in the court of the EU member states”, said Zhovkva.
He added that Ukraine expects to gain candidate country status in June, during the scheduled meeting of the European Council.
“After that, we will have to start accession negotiations. And when we hold those talks, we can already speak about Ukraine’s full membership of the EU”, Zhovkva concluded.