Antonio Costa: Security guarantees for Ukraine are EU accession

Despite the war, Ukraine retains "impressive" capacity to carry out the reforms necessary for EU accession, says European Council President Antonio Costa, writes dw.com.

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Ukraine's accession to the European Union could be a reliable security guarantee, says European Council President Antonio Costa. "Security guarantees for Ukraine are EU accession, and we are on the right track," Costa said during a speech at the "Europe: Strengthening through Crisis" event in Brussels on Tuesday, March 25. According to him, the European Commission "very positively assesses what Ukraine is doing."

"It's amazing to see how a country at war, in this terrible situation, finds the capacity to implement reforms and achieve goals in order to join the EU," said the head of the European Council.

At the same time, he refused to confirm 2030 as a possible date for Ukraine's accession to the EU, which had been previously voiced by other European high-ranking officials. "As we know, the progress of this process is based on achievements. And Ukraine is still making such achievements. But whether this (Ukraine's accession to the EU. — Ed.) will happen earlier, whether it will be in 2030 — I don't know," said Costa. In his opinion, "the question is not in the date, but in the process itself, in the joint desire to achieve this."

Costa: Why should we expect the Russian Federation to respect the borders of another country?

Antonio Costa also said that over the past three years, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU defense spending has increased by 30 percent. "If Russia believes that Ukraine's borders are just a line on a map, why should we expect it to respect the borders of any other country?" the European Council President stressed.

According to him, Europe's security begins in Ukraine, and therefore "we must continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with it to create conditions for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Europe."

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