Slovakia for opening EU negotiations with Ukraine, – Foreign Minister

Slovakia is ready to support the opening of EU negotiations with Ukraine/Collage 24 Channel< p _ngcontent-sc90 class="news-annotation">Bratislava announced that it is ready to support the decision to open negotiations with Ukraine on joining the European Union. This issue will be discussed at the EU summit, which will take place on December 14-15.

On December 11, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanar, took part in a meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. One of the topics of negotiations between the heads of diplomacy of the EU member states also concerned Ukraine.

What is known about the decision of Slovakia

Having assessed the reform efforts in Kiev, we are ready to support the opening of accession negotiations, which will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the European Council. However, our eastern neighbor still has a long and thorny path ahead; all necessary measures must not only be approved, but also implemented and monitored for compliance,” said Blanar.

In addition, he simultaneously noted that it is necessary to focus more “on finding peaceful solutions” and engage in the restoration of Ukraine, which should bring the country closer to EU membership.

The Foreign Minister also repeated the position of the new government in Bratislava that Slovakia does not plan to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

Blandar noted the continued provision of humanitarian support to Ukraine, in particular in the issue of mine clearance and preparation of energy infrastructure for winter.

Ukraine's accession to the EU: latest news

• Preliminarily, speaking about Ukraine’s accession to the EU, Slovak Foreign Minister Blanar noted that under current circumstances it is difficult for him to imagine that our state has joined the European Union. However, he noted the prospect of Ukraine's membership in the Union in the future. He stated that this should be “in compliance with all the rules, as for all other Eastern Partnership countries,” that is, Moldova, Georgia or the Western Balkans.
• In a few days, a meeting of the European Council will take place on December 14-15. The issue of Ukraine's accession to the EU will be considered at this meeting. National minorities of Transcarpathia ask for Ukraine's support in negotiations on our state's accession to the EU.
• To do this, they turned to Orban, Fico and Charles Michel and noted in their message that Ukraine even during the war, “continues to carry out the necessary reforms and remains true to its European integration values.”
• Discussions continue in the European Union about the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba noted the desire of each state to see our state as part of the organization. He stated that there are only those who want to study the consequences more carefully.