In the past few days, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smihal spoke about the fact that Ukraine has fulfilled all the criteria necessary for EU accession in order to start negotiations with the union. Kyiv's goal is to become a full member candidate of the European Union, said the Ukrainian Prime Minister, as he vowed to introduce his country to the EU within two years.

The debate about EU enlargement is becoming more and more intense. As is known, France and Germany prepared a draft intending to introduce several types of membership status.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister indicated that Ukraine does not care about a slowed-down accession process.

"We will make every effort to ensure that Ukraine becomes a full member of the European Union. This is important for all Ukrainians," said Smihal.

Although he noted that it was ultimately up to member states to decide on joining, he added: "I am confident that within two years we will be fully ready to be part of the European Union."

Although eight countries have already received candidate status and have been waiting for years to move to the next stage of the accession process, according to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Ukraine should be treated as a unique case.

"We want to be full members, because today Ukraine is the only country in the whole world that paid a high price to become a member of the European Union"

- declared Denisz Smihal, who added that more than 90 percent of Ukrainians support their country becoming a full member of the Union. The Ukrainian Prime Minister said that Ukraine met all seven conditions set by the European Commission in June 2022.

At the same time, it should be mentioned here that Hungary continues to object to the minority law adopted by the Ukrainian parliament, according to which the constitutional rights of Hungarian minorities are violated - almost a hundred Hungarian schools in Transcarpathia were forbidden to continue their operation as Hungarian-language schools.

Viktor Orbán on Kossuth Rádió's Jó Reggelt Magyarország radio program , speaking about Ukraine's possible accession to the European Union, that he would be careful with these plans. For that, all member states must contribute, and for the time being, the Hungarian parliament does not experience the "irresistible desire" to vote on it within two years.

The Hungarian Prime Minister also pointed out that the issue of whether it is permissible to start negotiations with a country that is in a territorial war, so it is not possible to know the size of its territory and population, is a question that cannot be avoided. He added: The entire European Union system, for example the allocation of subsidies, is based on these data.

Oleg Nikolenko responded to this assumption on his Facebook page : "We are positively aware that the Prime Minister of Hungary is concerned about Ukraine's accession to the European Union. We inform you that Ukraine has not changed its territory within its internationally recognized borders."

Source: Politico, hirado.hu, Mandiner

Photo: MTI/EPA/Ukraine Presidential Press Office - Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Kyiv