By KYIV. Oct 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking via video link at a meeting of the European Council on Thursday, said he expected unity among European leaders in response to the decision to begin negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
“The key geopolitical manifestation of unity for Europe – unity on the issue of EU enlargement – should also be viewed from the perspective of security. It is clear that each nation’s path to the EU is a work based on merit and institutional development. Ukraine is doing this work. And I think, it is doing it well,” Zelenskyy stated.
So, according to him, “even despite the full-scale war, we are not asking for exceptions to the general rules.”
“Ukraine has practically implemented seven recommendations of the European Commission – both the simpler solutions and the solutions that were difficult for politicians. And we are counting on your unity in response – the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union,” the President said.
Zelenskyy also noted that literally on the eve of the summit he signed a law on financial monitoring of politically exposed persons related to European integration, calling it one of the key laws adopted in pursuance of the recommendations of the European Commission on the opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU.
“The law significantly strengthens the financial monitoring of public figures. And in any country, it is not easy for the political class to make such decisions. But now is the time when simple decisions cannot suffice … Because this is the time when each of our decisions determines whether we become stronger in protecting our lives. And this applies not only to Ukraine,” he said.
The Head of state also stated that “this decision will be one of the strongest in that decade, and in many ways, it will determine the entire future path of the European Union.”
“Either all of our Europe, together with Ukraine, together with Moldova, and in the future, together with Georgia and Belarus, – will win, or … The past will win. I am sure you are all on the side of modern Europe. We must win,” he said.
At the same time, Zelenskyy reminded that “we remember Europe’s past … A past in which millions of human lives were destroyed precisely because there was a lack of unity. The kind of unity that exists now.”
“It was the past when someone alone decided and, unfortunately, had the power to decide whether a nation had the right to exist. It is our historical responsibility to prevent the past from ever returning. We must remember that Russia is not fighting now to stay in our Mariupol or Crimea, but to be able to come to Tartu or Gdansk if the Kremlin wants it,” he noted.
“Russia is trying to change the borders of Ukraine not only to seize one or another of our regions, but also to change any borders that they do not like. And you saw this in the past. Russia’s attempts to prevent Ukraine’s accession to the EU or NATO are not just about our country, they are about much more, about being able to take away from the EU or NATO any nation that is already there, without even asking the will of that nation, but deciding everything for them. This is what the Kremlin is used to. This war is about deciding what Europe should be like. And it is up to us to decide, not the Kremlin,” the President said.
