ISTANBUL

Denmark is launching a €375 million ($439 million) program to support Ukraine’s integration with the EU, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Friday.

“Today, Lars (Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen) will officially launch the new Ukraine Transition Program,” Sybiha said in a joint news conference with his Danish counterpart, adding that the initiative will last three years.

According to him, the program will focus on resilience support and early recovery, energy security and the transition to green energy, as well as the development of democratic institutions.

Kyiv expects that the negotiation clusters for EU accession will soon be opened under Denmark’s EU presidency.

“This systematic integration project is designed for three years, with a budget of €375 million,” Sybiha emphasized.

Earlier, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka said Ukraine was on the “home stretch” of aligning its legislation with EU standards.

Ukraine’s EU accession is also being discussed in the upcoming security guarantees.

Most EU members support opening negotiations in 2025, with Hungary being the only country to oppose. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest does not care “what Moscow thinks about Ukraine’s EU membership.”

Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted his surprise over Hungary’s position, saying that “even Russia does not oppose” Ukraine joining the EU.