Ukraine hopes to get status of EU candidate country within a month

Aliona Shkrum, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, said this during her visit to Brussels following a meeting with MEPs, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The first issue we came up with was accession to the European Union. Everything is not as easy as we would like it to be, but we have to get the status of a candidate country in the coming month. […] I think that it is not just a symbol for Ukraine. We deserve it, and we are ready to do it economically," the Ukrainian politician said.

She noted that Ukraine has done a lot of work and has already completed the first part of the European Commission's questionnaire on the country's readiness to join the EU and is currently working on the second part of the questionnaire regarding the country's compliance with EU law, the so-called acquis communautaire.

"I don't think the second questionnaire was needed at all. We respect the procedure for obtaining the status of a candidate for membership. But I think that from the first questionnaire it was clear that we are ready for this. If there is a second questionnaire, well, we will also quickly complete the second one. This is not a question for Ukraine, this is a question for our European partners," Shkrum said.

She expressed confidence that Ukraine should become a member of the EU within a year, and in the process of its accession it should not be artificially "attached" to other countries.

"With all due respect, we cannot be combined with Moldova or Georgia. We must walk our own way. Ukraine has made tremendous progress in [implementing] 70 percent of our Association Agreement, in integrating into European markets, in integrating into the gas sector, and so on. This issue [concerning EU membership] is very important. We talked about this with both the European Commissioners and the President of the European Parliament," she said.

On April 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky handed the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, a completed questionnaire on Ukraine obtaining the status of an EU candidate country. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, handed the questionnaire to the Ukrainian side during her visit to Kyiv on April 8.

On April 18, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishina said that Ukraine had already received the second part of the questionnaire, so the government team will make every effort to complete this part as soon as possible.

Zelensky signed the application for Ukraine's membership in the European Union on February 28, 2022.