“Making Ukraine's EU membership possible is a moral duty”, said the head of the European Commission.

In a speech at the GLOBSEC 2022 forum in Bratislava, Ursula von der Leyen said that "it is not only our strategic interest but also our moral duty to make it possible" for Ukrainians to join the EU, aware of their courageous struggle for their future.

"Ukrainians are fighting so bravely because they know perfectly well that they want a free and open society belonging to a strong democratic community," she added.

Von der Leyen explained that the EU wants to combine recovery investments with reforms in the areas of administrative capacity, the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

Their goal is to create an attractive business environment "so that investors have confidence and confidence and return and invest in Ukraine."

She promised that the European Commission would "side with the Ukrainians with all the achievements we have, with all the experience we have", in order to achieve these reforms leading to EU accession.

At the same time, she noted that the speed of the accession process depends on Ukraine and the support of the bloc.

Just four days after Russia launched a war against Ukraine on February 24th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially signed his country's application to join the EU.

The European Commission is currently assessing the questionnaire that Ukraine completed and returned in April.

In the coming weeks, the EU executive will give its opinion on whether the country can be granted candidate status and start membership talks as the first phase of the process.

EU leaders are expected to assess this opinion at their next summit on June 23-24.

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