French Transport Minister Clément Beaune has explained his recent comment that Ukraine’s accession to the EU might take 15–20 years.

In May 2022, before the European Council granted the status of candidate state to Ukraine, Beaune, who was then Secretary of State for European Affairs, said that Ukraine would not be able to join the EU in one or two years and that its accession process would last 15 to 20 years.

"When I said in May [it would take] 15 to 20 years, it was to say, let’s not imagine that it can be done overnight," Beaune said in an interview with European Pravda.

He said that he made the remark a month before the decision to grant candidacy to Ukraine was taken, and that he intended to communicate the message to EU member states, not just Ukraine.

"There will be next steps. It’s not all of a sudden that when you grant candidate status, the day after, or the week after, or the month after, a country – Ukraine is one – is joining the family," the French minister said.

He expressed confidence that the EU’s commitment to allow Ukraine to accede as quickly as possible "is a very solid one", despite the war and the need to reconstruct and rebuild the country.

"There will be new institutions, new European Parliament, new European Commission next year, and I’m totally sure, I can guarantee 100% that the commitment made by the EU will remain. And then the speed depends on efforts and circumstances," Beaune added.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to Beaune’s 2022 remark by saying that Beaune’s assessment would not affect Kyiv's European integration drive (Ukr).