If Ukraine maintains the current pace of reforms, it can join the European Union (EU) in 2030, the new head of the EU representative office, Katarina Maternova, said in an interview with the Ukrainian web publication “Evropeiska Pravda”, stating that 2030 is a realistic deadline.
If Ukraine maintains the current pace of reforms, it can join the European Union (EU) in 2030, the new head of the EU representative office, Katarina Maternova, said in an interview with the Ukrainian web publication “Evropeiska Pravda”, stating that 2030 is a realistic deadline.
As the diplomat said, she will explain to everyone in Brussels that time flows completely differently in Ukraine.
“What takes months in other places can happen here in weeks or days,”
said Maternova.
“That’s why I believe that 2030 is a realistic deadline. But it is possible if you work very, very hard. You have to maintain the pace of reforms – it is not always a linear process. True, I can imagine that it will be a reality ,”
explained the ambassador.
She pointed out that this requires not only reforms to be carried out by Ukraine.
“The deadlines will also be determined by the institutional and political changes that must take place on the part of the EU. The EU must be ready to expand beyond the borders of the current 27 member states. Without changes in the voting system, in the decision-making system, the number of EU member states cannot grow to infinity,” Maternova said.
In the case of Ukraine, geopolitics plays an important role, the diplomat said.
“There’s no doubt that we wouldn’t be deciding when Ukraine will join the EU right now if it weren’t for the terrible events of February 24 and everything that followed. That’s why geopolitics, of course, plays a decisive role. Geopolitics determines the vector,”
summed up Maternova.
