EU Commission president pledges unconditional, long-term support for Ukraine
"We stand by Ukraine's side. Without any ‘ifs and buts,’" von der Leyen said in a speech on Jan. 28 at an event of her party, the Christian Democrat CDU, in Duesseldorf, Germany.
She stressed that Ukraine would get the EU support "as long as it is needed."
"Ukraine is fighting for our shared values, it is fighting for respect for international law and for the principles of democracy, and that is why Ukraine has to win this war", the EU commission president said.
Von der Leyen and other EU commissioners are to be present at the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit that will take place in Kyiv. Politico wrote that around 10 to 15 commissioners will arrive in Kyiv to hold a series of consultations with the Ukrainian government.
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The EU-Ukraine summit is to take place in Kyiv on Feb. 3. In particular, the question of Ukraine's economic integration into the European market is on agenda.
Previously, during the 17th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum in Kyiv on Sept. 1, Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine intends to satisfy EU’s eight criteria for membership by the end of 2022.
“We examined how other countries made their journey to the EU. It took five, seven, eight years,” Shmyhal said.
“We aspire to do the same in two years and achieve our goal of becoming a full member of the EU.”
The PM added that Ukraine has made its choice to continue moving towards Western civilization.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
