Presidents of Poland and Italy spoke in favor of rapid integration of Ukraine into European Union
Poland and Italy support the rapid path of integration into the EU of Ukraine, as well as Moldova and the countries of the Western Balkans.
This was stated by the presidents of Poland and Italy, Andrzej Duda and Sergio Mattarella, during a joint briefing, Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
As the President of Poland noted, Ukrainians are now fighting for "the right to independently decide their own destiny and go in the direction they want."
"Ukrainians want to be with us, they want to be on the side of the West and belong to our Community, and we must pave the way for them to this Community as much as possible. We must accept them into this Community as soon as possible," Duda said.
The Polish leader expressed hope that this year's report of the European Commission on progress in the process of integration and implementation of reforms in Ukraine will bring Ukraine closer to joining the EU. "We will receive the EU report in May, and I hope that this will be another step that will bring Ukraine closer to full membership in the EU," Duda stated.
He also considers it important that Moldova and the countries of the Western Balkans be admitted to the EU without delay.
Duda said that he also discussed the approach of the NATO summit in Vilnius with the Italian president. "We talked about how NATO should continue to support Ukraine," he emphasized.
In turn, the President of Italy reminded that Ukraine and Moldova received the status of candidate countries for EU membership last year. "We are now waiting for the specific implementation of issues regarding the European integration of Ukraine and Moldova. This also applies to the countries of the Western Balkans," Matarella emphasized. He called it a very important issue, because these countries are waiting for EU membership, and it is important that this happens, because it is about common European values.
