French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kyiv’s application for EU membership will be discussed next month by the governing body, according to a statement released by the Elysee on Tuesday.
According to the European Commission, formal negotiation is the first stage toward membership, but “the negotiations cannot start until all EU governments agree, in the form of a unanimous decision by the EU Council, on a framework or mandate for negotiations with the candidate country.”
Macron informed Zelenskyy that “Ukraine's application for membership of the European Union would be studied during the European Council in June on the basis of the opinion that the Commission will have given the European Union,” the statement added.
Ukraine has appealed to the EU to fast-track its application for membership, which can take decades till negotiations and accession criteria are fulfilled.
