The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, Oleksandr Merejko, estimated on Tuesday 5 May that his country could be ready to join by the end of next year.
“Ukraine has set itself a clear internal objective: to fulfil all the obligations necessary for EU membership by the end of 2027. Our goal is full membership of the European Union”, he stressed via video conference at a hearing of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. He called for the opening of all sets of EU accession chapters by June.
Noting that some Member States had put forward ideas for a simplified or phased version of Ukraine’s accession to the EU, he explained that in this regard, Ukraine was proposing the creation of a working group bringing together all Member States “to examine all relevant concepts and options”.
“Ukraine’s accession to the EU will mean the strategic and definitive defeat of Putin’s regime”, he said.
The Ukrainian representative also called on the EU to continue its military support for Ukraine.
Oleksandr Merejko called on the EU “to show maximum flexibility at this stage, by offering the possibility of buying from third countries in the absence of [European] alternatives”. “It is imperative to act quickly to develop our own production in Ukraine and within the European Union in order to limit this dependence in the near future”, he added, while calling on the Member States to take part in the PURL initiative.
The Ukrainian parliamentarian said that the top priority remained air defence and, in particular, missile defence against ballistic threats, but that his country also needed drones and electronics, in particular those capable of intercepting the Shahed and other attack drones, artillery systems and long-range ammunition for combat aircraft.
Oleksandr Merejko also called for sanctions against Russia to be stepped up. “It is crucial to strengthen sanctions in key sectors - oil and gas, metallurgy, chemicals, the nuclear industry and defence technologies - and in particular against Rosatom and Roscosmos, which must be sanctioned and excluded immediately from international research and cooperation programmes”, he added. The MEP also called for Gazprombank to be disconnected from SWIFT and from all financial intermediaries that circumvent the sanctions. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)