EU Ambassador on Ukraine’s Accession to EU: 2030 Is a Realistic Deadline

Katarína Mathernová, new Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, believes that if the current pace of reforms is maintained, Ukraine may join the EU in 2030.

Mathernová said in an interview with European Pravda she explains to everyone in Brussels that "time counts in different increments in Ukraine".

"What takes months somewhere else takes weeks or days here," she stressed.

"I think 2030 could be realistic if one really, really works hard. You need to maintain a reform tempo. It's not always a linear process, but I can imagine that being realistic," the ambassador said.

At the same time, she noted that this requires not only the reforms that Ukraine needs to implement.

"It's not only the reforms that Ukraine needs to undertake that are going to define the timing, but also the institutional and policy changes that need to take place on the side of the European Union to be ready to expand beyond the current 27," Mathernová emphasised.

She also noted that geopolitics plays a significant role in Ukraine's case.

"Geopolitics, of course, plays a role. The vector is the geopolitics," the ambassador said.

Despite France's and Germany's plans for a multi-speed EU, Ukraine has sent a clear message that it will not accept second-class membership. Kyiv is seeking to become a "fully fledged candidate for full fledged membership" in the European Union, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, stated that there is a general consensus in the EU to open accession talks between Ukraine and the EU, albeit that work with EU member states will precede the final decision.

The government previously stated that it would be ready for EU membership in two years.