French EU minister calls for ‘positive signal’ to Ukraine’s EU bid

“We must give a positive signal as soon as possible” even if “launching an accession process takes time,” Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, told broadcaster France Inter.

“The urgency is to stop the war, to rebuild Ukraine, and then to make it join under good conditions, both for the EU and for Ukraine,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently made a surprise trip to Kyiv, said, “we want to support Ukraine in its EU journey.”

The European Council will decide whether to grant Ukraine candidate country status at the end of June 2022 after the European Commission’s opinion this week.

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