Prime Minister Kaja Kallas says Estonia has always supported Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. “Ukraine is fighting for democracy, freedom and all of Europe,” she said. “We have to send out a strong political message: Ukraine is a European country and is welcome in the European Union. That means it must be given a clear signal of its membership prospects. Estonia is prepared to help Ukraine in every way it can on its journey towards accession. Ukraine is part of Europe. It is one of us.”
Prime Minister Kallas will also be lobbying the leaders of the European Union for support for granting Ukraine candidate country status at the meeting of EU heads of state and government being held in France next week.
In giving its backing to the positions of the Foreign Minister, the government considers it important that the European Union supports Ukraine in every way possible in preparing to become a Member State. It has also confirmed that it is willing to share with Ukraine Estonia’s experiences of integration and to support the country generally through the accession process. The government also considers it necessary for the European Union to quickly agree on the specific, ambitious steps that now need to be taken for Ukraine’s integration with the EU.
Ukraine officially applied to become a Member State of the EU on Monday. That same day, a joint statement in support of granting Ukraine candidate country status was issued by the heads of state of eight countries in the union: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Hungary later added its name to the statement. The need to send Ukraine a clear signal regarding its accession prospects was confirmed by the European Parliament on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Kallas and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine put their names to a bilateral statement as early as last May indicating Estonia’s support for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
