Shmyhal: Ukraine should be ready to join EU no later than end of 2025

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has stated that Ukraine's goal is to be ready to join the European Union no later than the end of 2025.

The head of government announced this during a press conference on Tuesday, September 10, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Our goal is ambitious - we want to be ready for accession to the EU no later than the end of 2025, but in general, strategically, we understand that our accession to the European Union should be an integral part of a just peace. This is our strategic goal," Shmyhal said.

He noted that this would be preceded by titanic work.

"We need to bring our legislation and all our by-laws -- these are tens of thousands of documents -- into compliance with EU directives and regulations. Actually, this is a large amount of technical work. We have only one political decision -- this is the decision of the member states of the European Union to accept Ukraine as a member of the EU. This is preceded by a lot of technical work, which requires daily tireless quiet work, rather than bright political statements," Shmyhal said.

He also recalled that this year Ukraine has already achieved considerable success in the field of European integration.

"We received a decision to start negotiations on joining the European Union, and we are actively continuing this work. We received and approved the negotiating framework. We started and are successfully continuing the screening of our legislation. We not only got the approval of the Ukraine Facility instrument, but also prepared for it, made an appropriate reform plan, approved a unique instrument called 'Reform Matrix,' which this year alone includes more than 400 measures that Ukraine must implement," he said.

He stressed that the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada were carefully monitoring and ensuring the implementation of these measures in order to follow the schedule of European integration reforms.

In addition, Shmyhal emphasized that receiving financial assistance and European integration are interrelated.

Among the successes in relations with the European Union, the prime minister also mentioned the continuation of economic and transport visa-free regimes.

"The transport visa-free regime is something that required quite a lot of effort. We all saw the protests in Poland, we went through and overcame this crisis, we formed a policy of new pragmatism with our European neighbors and we maintain this balance. The border with Poland was unblocked. Cargoes pass absolutely calmly. The e-queue works -- this is a unique tool. I was personally at the border, talked with the drivers, and they are delighted with the introduction of this digital tool. The next steps are the reform of our customs," Shmyhal said.