Ukraine says won’t accept any alternative to EU membership

BERLIN

Ukraine will not accept any alternative to its EU candidacy status, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin following his meeting with German lawmakers, Kuleba said it is still early to make a conclusive assessment of French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal of European Political Community, as many details about the initiative is still not known.

“As far as we understand the French proposal, it does not contradict granting EU candidacy status to Ukraine, “he said, and also made it clear that for Kyiv, alternatives to membership would be unacceptable.

“I don’t have an impression that this initiative excludes Ukraine from the potential list of members. But if this is the case, this is discriminatory, this is unfair. And it goes against the public statements coming from France and other countries,” he stressed.

Kuleba said Ukraine expects a positive response from Brussels for its application for membership in the EU.

“We firmly believe that it will be in the best interests of Europe to grant Ukraine EU candidacy status in late June at the summit of the European Council,” he said.