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The Polish presidency of the EU Council in the first half of next year should focus on two priorities in the context of Ukraine: military assistance for Kyiv and accelerating the process of European integration. During the Polish presidency, the date of Ukraine’s accession to the EU should be announced.
This opinion was expressed by Michał Kaminski, Vice Marshal of the Polish Senate, on the sidelines of the Ukrainian-Polish Forum of the Future held in Warsaw on Monday, Ukrinform reported.
“One of the priorities of the Polish presidency in the EU will be, on the one hand, military assistance to Ukraine, and on the other hand, acceleration of the European integration process,” the Polish politician emphasized.
According to him, the Poles have been emphasizing from the very beginning that Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine is the first war in history waged for EU membership.
“Ukrainians today are the first nation to literally die for EU membership. Therefore, the priority should be to start the process of Ukraine’s European integration with the EU as soon as possible and to set a specific date of accession,” Kaminsky emphasized.
He expressed concern that setting an accession date will not be a task that can be accomplished during the Polish presidency of the EU Council.
“But we have to start convincing other countries on this issue. I would like the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU to end with the determination of the date of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, which everyone could agree on,” the Vice Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland emphasized.
The politician noted that today it is necessary to open all negotiating chapters between the EU and Ukraine on membership in the Community.
At the same time, he does not believe that the complicated history in Ukrainian-Polish relations will have any negative impact on Kyiv’s European integration process during the Polish presidency. In his opinion, the recent declaration of the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Poland, Andriy Sybiha and Radoslaw Sikorski, on search and exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy should ease tensions in the relationship. Kaminsky emphasized that today Kyiv and Warsaw “should focus on the future, not the past” in their relations.
The Ukrainian-Polish Forum of the Future discussed the prospects for relations between Kyiv and Warsaw, the conditions for doing business in Poland, and the situation of Ukrainian migrants and refugees in Poland.
Poland will hold the EU presidency in the first half of 2025.
As previously reported, Ukraine and Poland are working to create a working group to resolve historical issues.
Read also: The United States has allocated a new military aid package to Ukraine worth $725 million
