Vucic allowed the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU in June

Ukraine will not be able to win an easy victory in the conflict with Russia by military means, so discussions should soon begin on the entry of the republic into the European Union, thinks Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Vučić expects Ukraine’s “big turn” to take a European path in June, he told TV Pink. According to him, this will happen, since it is “almost impossible” to win by military means. Vucic believes that decisions will soon be made on the immediate start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, because “competition for the head of NATO begins,” and the United States creates a separate bloc within Europe.

“It will be Poland, the Baltic countries and Ukraine. It becomes clear that they will become the strongest in Europe and under the direct control of the United States,” Vučić said (quote from Sputnik Serbia).

Negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU may start already in 2023, as political reforms are being carried out very quickly in the country, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna said in an interview with the Financial Times in February. She urged European states to avoid “negative messages” about the timing of EU accession.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine’s membership in the EU on February 28, 2022. In the summer of the same year, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that the heads of state and government of the European Union at the summit in Brussels approved granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates for joining the organization. Among the political reforms that need to be carried out in Ukraine to start negotiations, the European Commission named changes in judicial oversight and efforts to reduce the influence of oligarchs.

French President Emmanuel Macron said last year that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union would take many years. The head of state added that “Ukraine is already a member of the European family” and suggested creating a “European political community” that could accept it into its ranks. On January 30, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal expressed hope that Ukraine’s accession to the EU would take place within two years, and in 2023 the “preliminary stage of negotiations” would begin.

In June 2022 at the plenary session SPIEF President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is not against Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, since it is not a military organization. The head of state stressed that Russia has never been against economic integration, the Russian side has opposed the military development of Ukraine.

The procedure for countries to join the EU involves the passage of several main stages, among which are the filing of an application, obtaining the status of a candidate, negotiations, ratification and integration. At the same time, formally, the status of a candidate does not mean the automatic start of negotiations on joining the EU.