Number of EU Countries Ready to Express Support for Ukraine on Path of Its European Integration in Form of Bilateral Declarations

Ukraine needs to gather a kind of coalition of countries that support Ukrainians on their path towards the EU, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Poland Andriy Deshchytsia said in a comment to the Dom Ukrainian TV channel.

He reminded that leaders of many countries had visited Poland to celebrate the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on 3 May. The presidents of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia signed a joint declaration on Ukraine’s European prospect. Now, the signing of bilateral documents is planned.

“During a public discussion held in Warsaw, the presidents of these countries reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union. It was part of the discussion, but we hope that it will also be enshrined in specific documents that will be signed soon,” Deshchytsia said.

For Ukraine, he noted, such declarations are an incentive to continue reforms and movement towards the European integration. In addition, the document signed with Poland sets an example for other EU Member States to support Ukraine in its aspirations to join the EU in solidarity with Poland.

As the diplomat emphasised, Ukraine’s path towards the EU is a long process. There are countries that understand the importance of Ukraine as a neighbour of the European Union and a member of the EU in the future.

“However, there are countries that are skeptical about this. For them, Ukraine’s membership in the EU is not a priority, so to speak. Therefore, our lobby will be stronger. The more countries express their support for us in the format of bilateral declarations, the easier it will be to convince skeptics,” the ambassador stressed.

Bohdan Marusyak