Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees call on granting Ukraine the status of EU candidate country

NordenBladet —

Today, the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of ten countries and the European Parliament made a Joint Statement in which they call on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for the European Union membership in the forthcoming European Council.

The Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees welcome the European Council conclusions on Ukraine adopted on 30 May 2022 and note that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia that cover crude oil and petroleum products delivered from Russia into the Member States is a strong signal of European commitment to ending Europe’s energy dependence on Russia and limiting Europe’s susceptibility to energy weaponization attempts against the bloc.

“Today is a turning point for European history, providing momentum for the EU to exercise a proactive role at regional and global levels and build the Union’s geopolitical power whilst reducing Russia’s influence in EU neighbourhood countries,” they say.

In their Joint Statement, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees highlight that the majority of Europeans support Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and an absolute majority of Ukrainians desire Ukraine to join the European Union. “Ukraine is an integral part of Europe, and we must be strong and convincing in our response to Ukraine’s desire to join the Union. We also acknowledge that there are other potential candidates who aspire to join the European Union,” they point out.

The Joint Statement underlines that Ukrainian people are fighting for their country, their own lives, freedom, and democracy, or for the same values we need to be fundamentally European. “Therefore, granting EU candidate status to Ukraine would be an important political signal of support and hope for Ukraine and would reaffirm our commitment to our political ideals and foundational beliefs. We call on the Member States of the European Union to open up to Ukraine a realistic prospect of membership in the European Union by granting it the status of a candidate country in the forthcoming European Council on 23-24 June 2022,” the Statement says.

The Joint Statement is signed by the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the European Parliament. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson signed the Statement on behalf of Estonia.

Full text of the Statement in English and in Estonian

Source: Parliament of Estonia