Ukraine will not fulfill all European Commission recommendations fully by October – Stefanishyna

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said this at the opening of the event "What does Ukraine's path to the EU look like?" Hard Talk", an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I can definitely say: in October, we will not hear that we have fulfilled all seven recommendations 100% because we are talking about fundamental transformations in the state which are related to human rights, the process of de-oligarchization, which also thanks to Ukraine, Ukrainian initiatives, has become one from the pillars of fundamental democratic reforms," Stefanishyna warned.

She noted that those fundamental changes would be implemented for years, but by October the state would ensure the implementation of all agreed legislative and institutional steps. "And let's hope [we] will open the door for a political solution," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

According to her, Ukraine is also constantly in negotiations to ensure that the seven recommendations of the European Commission are not increased.

"Because when implementing, for example, anti-corruption measures, there is a need for additional measures, the need to implement a whole anti-corruption strategy, funding of anti-corruption bodies, many other tasks, but they should not be part of the political process," the government official explained.

In addition, Stefanishyna informed that there would still be a big process of synchronizing the recommendations. Her visit to Brussels, where she will conduct final negotiations, will take place at the beginning of September.

"We will have a solid background for each of the seven blocks, and I think that some of them, like the two recommendations that have already been closed, can be closed completely," the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.

She also noted that in order to defend national interests and build a competitive economy, Ukraine should start accession negotiations. For this, according to Stefanishyna, Ukraine is moving very quickly to ensure political compliance for making such a decision.

"We consider December 2023 as the last opportunity to make the last political decision regarding Ukraine's move to the EU. In the future, the opening of negotiations will be very serious, and of course we will not move very quickly in terms of adapting legislation. We will move dynamically in relation to the negotiation process itself, but we will not sacrifice fundamental issues for Ukraine if they are the subject of negotiations," the government official informed.

As reported, Ukraine received a EU candidate status on June 23, 2022. Ukraine must fulfill the seven requirements of the European Commission necessary to maintain candidate status. In the autumn of 2023, the European Commission is expected to provide a report assessing Ukraine's fulfillment of seven requirements on the way to joining the EU.