Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Ukraine deserves the status of a candidate country for the EU, given its courage in the face of Russian aggression, but must meet the specific requirements for joining the bloc, the Polish news agency PAP reported, quoted by BTA.
Sikorski arrived in Kiev last night to mark four years since Russia began its full-scale war in Ukraine. Speaking to reporters, he said that “Ukraine has earned candidate status through its courage“.
“We have started negotiations and also wanted to open one of the negotiation clusters during our [Polish] presidency [of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2025]“, Sikorski said of efforts to accelerate EU enlargement with Ukraine.
“Hungary prevented us from doing so, demonizing Ukraine among its electorate, imposing conditions and blackmailing it“, added the Polish top diplomat.
“This will not be an easy process... especially since Ukraine, of course, must fulfill all the conditions“, Sikorski pointed out.
He also said that Kiev had not yet fully implemented the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and that it was still there are still a number of issues, but it acknowledged that there are already areas in which it is fully compatible with the EU, such as energy.