Brussels: Senior EU officials stated on Thursday that although Ukraine is making strides in its political reforms to prepare for membership negotiations, there are still five key areas where it needs to go.
The evaluation by the European Commission, the EU's executive body, gave Kiev hope that it might succeed in obtaining approval for membership negotiations in December despite its battle to fend off Russia's invasion.
But it also demonstrated that Ukraine still has a long way to go before completing even the seven requirements the EU set forth when it granted Kyiv the status of a candidate for membership last year.
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They are on track and putting in a lot of effort. Oliver Varhelyi, the European Commissioner for Relations with the EU's Neighbours, stated that the nation is indeed under attack. "In contrast to that, I believe they are delivering."
Varhelyi reported that Kyiv had finished two of the seven steps, including the reform of two judicial bodies and the adoption of media legislation that adhered to EU standards, in an update for the EU's member states, as reported by Reuters on Monday.
He claimed that although Ukraine had made strides, there was still much to be done in the areas of minorities' treatment, fighting corruption and money laundering, and reforming the country's constitutional courts.
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Additionally, he emphasised that the European Commission would consider a wider range of variables in a comprehensive report on Ukraine's suitability for membership talks in October.
After presenting his analysis to European affairs ministers from the 27 member countries of the bloc in Stockholm, he told reporters, "We are just in the middle of the work so it's too early to tell you where they are going to be.
Minister of European Affairs for Sweden, Jessika Roswall, praised Ukraine's reform initiatives as "impressive" in the face of "extraordinary circumstances."
"Ukraine has made significant progress," she said.
The assessment did not come as a surprise, according to Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European integration.
She told Ukrainian TV that the government was cautiously optimistic that it would obtain a favourable ruling in October and that it would now concentrate on the steps required to do so.
The governments of the EU's member states decide whether and when to begin accession negotiations.
Varhelyi added that when Moldova received candidate status for membership at the same time as Kyiv last year, it had completed three of the nine steps outlined by the EU.
He claimed Georgia had finished three of the 12 steps the EU had set forth in order for it to be considered as a candidate for membership.
A nation must conform its laws to numerous EU standards, from labour to the environment, in order to join the EU. Normally, that process takes many years.
While western, older member states like France, Germany, and the Netherlands are less enthusiastic about the idea, Ukraine's neighbours on the eastern flank of the EU, Poland and the Baltic states, are generally in favour of it.
