Olga Stefanishyna at the meeting with MEPs: there should be no artificial obstacles in the EU enlargement process
25.02.2025
On February 25, 2025, in Kyiv, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine – Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna met with delegations from the United for Ukraine (U4U) network of parliamentarians, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The meeting was also attended by Director General of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Oleksandr Ilkov.
The participants discussed Ukraine’s progress towards the European Union and key plans for the negotiation process.
Olga Stefanishyna emphasized that Ukraine has started the process of joining the EU despite a full-scale war, having the political will of all branches of government and a clear strategy. The fact that Ukraine applied for membership not only created a new political impetus for EU enlargement, but also turned the enlargement process itself into a geopolitical priority.
She noted that the speed of our movement demonstrates that Ukraine is able to fulfill its obligations and is already doing so. Thus, the country has taken all the necessary steps to open the first negotiating cluster.
“We have an approved framework for negotiations by both Ukraine and the Member States. According to this framework, the European Commission should send a letter that will allow us to officially start preparations for the opening of the first Cluster. However, this requires the unanimous consent of 27 countries.”
She stressed that the enlargement process has great transformative power, but artificial bureaucratic obstacles that slow down or even prevent progress undermine trust and support. “Decisions on opening the Clusters should be based on merit, not on bargaining. If there is a report from the European Commission confirming that Ukraine has fulfilled the necessary conditions and there is a recommendation to open the Cluster, the relevant decision should be made without additional obstacles,” she emphasized.
Olga Stefanishyna called on MPs to engage in a thorough dialogue on EU enlargement, its goals and existing procedures.
In his turn, Oleksandr Ilkov emphasized that Ukraine has already developed roadmaps for the rule of law and public administration reform and is looking forward to presenting these maps to the European side. He also informed that the screening of the sixth cluster of the EU accession negotiation process, which covers foreign relations and security and defense policy, has already begun. Bilateral meetings have already taken place in Brussels between representatives of Ukraine and the European Commission as part of the official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law under Title 30, and a meeting on Title 31 is scheduled for next week.
During the meeting, attention was also paid to cooperation with Iceland and Norway, whose experience in adapting to the EU internal market is useful for Ukraine. The parties also discussed the issue of information warfare by Russia. The government official emphasized that this is not only a matter of Ukraine’s security, but also the security of every EU country. “Russia is turning all its resources, including information, energy and cyber resources, into tools of war. Therefore, the fight against Russian disinformation campaigns should be our common task.”
The parliamentarians reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and noted the need to continue the dialogue to ensure Ukraine’s rapid and effective progress on the path to European integration.
