The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, does not see the possibility of Ukraine’s quick accession to the EU, stating there is no procedure for the expedited accession, the “European Pravda” reports.
Mark Rutte said that the Netherlands was one of the countries to come out with military support for Ukraine and advocate a strong package of sanctions against Russia. However, Rutte does not see any perspectives for Ukraine’s quick accession to the EU.
“There should be no doubt that Netherlands and Ukraine are standing side by side, but there is no such thing as quick accession. It does not exist,” he said.
Rutte argues that all the Western European leaders he talks to say that they should not introduce an accelerated procedure or an accelerated accession process. "But the issue of ‘for’ or ‘against’ Ukraine's membership is currently out of the question," he said.
Earlier, Netherlands’ Prime Minister said that his country is trying to do everything possible in Ukraine short-term, but it is too soon to talk about EU membership right now.
At the summit in Versailles, EU leaders are going to offer Ukraine a closer partnership but probably will not provide Ukraine with accelerated membership in the EU.
On 1 March, the European Parliament recommended giving Ukraine the status of the candidate to accession in the EU.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is waiting for a definite sign from the EU leaders.