“We’re together now,” Zelensky said

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine and the EU are entering a new chapter in their history, after the EU approved their country’s candidacy.

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“Now we are not close. Now we are together,” Mr Zelensky told the Ukrainian parliament, ushering in a new chapter in the history of his country’s relations with the European Union.

He said that it is a great honor and a great responsibility to work towards the achievement of the country’s aspirations.

“We have covered a journey of 115 days to achieve candidate status and our journey to membership will not take decades. We need to get there quickly,” said the Ukrainian president. “Ukraine is fighting to choose its values, to become part of the European family”.

After her speech, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen called on Ukrainian leaders and parliamentarians via video to confirm that their country’s membership is within their reach, to speed up anti-corruption reforms and to formulate a number of concrete proposals on justice and the necessary reduction. Influence of oligarchs.

Along with the yellow and blue flag of Ukraine, the EU flag was installed in place of the parliament.

Mr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denis Schmigal and Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchouk signed a joint pledge signaling the unity of the three branches of power in their efforts to join the EU.

Ukraine formally applied for EU membership on February 24, five days after the start of the Russian invasion. 27 members of the union approved his candidature on June 23.

But as the examples of Turkey and the Balkan countries show, the process is likely to take several years, particularly because of the strict standards for the rule of law and the economy of the candidate countries.