Greece and Cyprus do not support the accelerated entry of Ukraine into the EU

Greece and Cyprus do not object to Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, but they oppose the accelerated process of its entry into the alliance.

Referring to diplomatic sources, the opinion of Greece and Cyprus tells Euractiv Greece. The position of Athens is that the new candidate for the European Union must comply with all the procedures provided for in Article 49 of the Treaty on EU.

At the same time, Greece, according to a source in the Foreign Ministry, attaches particular importance to the annexation of the Western Balkans. She believes that this process should be continued and accelerated. At the same time, Athens insists that the European perspective of the region is an immediate priority.

Will Greece agree to grant Ukraine candidate status in June? The source says she wants to see the EC offer. If there is unanimity on this issue of all member countries, the position of Greece can be positive. But so far there is no unanimity of opinion.

Cyprus also wants to first get acquainted with the opinion of the European Commission. In the case of a positive direction, the republic will not be against granting Ukraine the status of a candidate. However, the source clarifies, subject to strict observance of all necessary procedures that make the process quite lengthy.

Cyprus recalls the candidate countries from the Western Balkans: many of them have already taken great steps towards accession, having carried out reforms and fulfilling a certain number of obligations.

Ukraine formed a delegation, which begins visits to European capitals for negotiations on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the EU in June. The EC is due to provide its assessment of Ukraine’s membership bid during June, before the summit of EU leaders at the end of the month.

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