Olha Stefanishyna meeting with MEPs: There should be no artificial obstacles in the EU enlargement process

On 25 February, in Kyiv, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna met with delegations from the United for Ukraine network of parliamentarians (U4U Network), the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The meeting was also attended by Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Oleksandr Ilkov.

The participants discussed Ukraine’s progress towards the European Union and key plans for the negotiation process.

Olha Stefanishyna emphasised that Ukraine had started the process of joining the EU despite a full-scale war, having the political will of all branches of government and a clear strategy. The fact that Ukraine has applied for membership has not only created a new political impetus for EU enlargement, but also turned the enlargement process itself into a geopolitical priority.

She noted that the speed of Ukraine’s movement demonstrates that it is capable of fulfilling its obligations and is already doing so. Thus, the country has completed all the necessary steps to open the first negotiating cluster.

“We have an approved framework for negotiations by both Ukraine and the Member States. In accordance with this framework, the European Commission should send a letter that will allow us to officially start preparations for the opening of the first Cluster. However, this requires the unanimous consent of 27 countries.”

According to her, the enlargement process has great transformative power, but artificial bureaucratic obstacles that slow down or even prevent progress undermine trust and support. “Decisions to open Clusters should be based on merit, not on bargaining. If there is a report from the European Commission confirming that Ukraine has fulfilled the necessary conditions and there is a recommendation to open a Cluster, the relevant decision should be made without additional obstacles,” she stressed.

Olha Stefanishyna called on MPs to engage in a thorough dialogue on EU enlargement, its goals and existing procedures.

In his turn, Oleksandr Ilkov stressed that Ukraine had already developed roadmaps for the rule of law and public administration reform and was looking forward to presenting these maps to the European side. He also informed that the screening of the sixth cluster of the EU accession negotiations, which covered foreign relations and security and defence policy, had already begun. Bilateral meetings have already taken place in Brussels between representatives of Ukraine and the European Commission as part of the official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law under Chapter 30, and a meeting on Chapter 31 is scheduled for next week.

The meeting also focused on cooperation with Iceland and Norway, whose experience in adapting to the EU internal market is useful for Ukraine. The parties also discussed the issue of information warfare by russia. Olha Stefanishyna stressed that this was not only a matter for Ukraine, but also for the security of every EU country. “russia is turning all its resources, including information, energy and cyber resources, into instruments of war. Therefore, the fight against russian disinformation campaigns should be our common task.”

The parliamentarians reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and noted the need to continue the dialogue to ensure Ukraine’s rapid and effective progress on the path to European integration.