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Ukraine has completed the necessary work to advance its EU accession process, and the pace of opening new negotiation clusters now depends entirely on the European Union, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka said, UATV English reports.
Speaking on national television, Kachka said all 27 EU member states support opening additional negotiation clusters with Ukraine, meaning the remaining steps are primarily procedural.
“The ball is now completely on the European Union’s side. It is a matter of unity among all 27 member states. We see that all of them are ready to open the clusters. There is no country that is against it. It is only a matter of timing, processing the documents and other technical issues,” Kachka said.
He added that Ukraine intends to use the current “window of opportunity” to accelerate its European integration, while continuing to implement reforms required for accession.
“The European Union understands that the main priority is ensuring the substance of the negotiations, and that depends on Ukraine. We have done a tremendous amount of work over the past years, and we continue to do so. Virtually everything the Verkhovna Rada is adopting now consists of EU integration legislation for the negotiation clusters we expect to open,” he said.
Kachka also welcomed the EU’s decision to open Cluster 6, covering external relations, including trade policy, the defense industry, trade in dual-use and defense-related goods, and the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
Earlier this week, EU ambassadors meeting in the COREPER II format agreed to open Cluster 6 in Ukraine’s accession negotiations, with the formal launch expected at the Intergovernmental Conference on July 14.
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