At a press conference held on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 28 January, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos indicated that, “technically”, the European Union institutions and Ukraine should be able to open, under the Polish presidency of the EU Council, two ‘clusters’ relating to EU accession negotiations - one on fundamental values and one on external action.
Ms Kos pointed out that such decisions would not be possible without the Member States, as unanimity is required at the EU Council. However, she noted that many Member States had expressed their willingness to achieve this objective that very morning.
Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs Jessica Rosencrantz has set herself the target of opening the first ‘cluster’ “in the spring, preferably in March”. “Supporting Ukraine is Sweden’s and the EU’s number one priority” in all policy areas, she said.
“We can talk about clusters, we can talk about chapters... but, for people, it means that there will be a better future for Ukraine when Ukraine is rebuilt after the war”, said High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishyna believes that the prospect of her country joining the EU is helping to keep Ukrainians united. “We do whatever we can by ourselves but without your support we’d be much weaker”, she added. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)