The new President of the European Council, António Costa, promised Ukraine rapid progress in the accession process. After Sunday’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, he said that they will work together to open at least two chapters of accession negotiations in the first half of 2025. TASR informs about it according to the report of the DPA agency.
Costa recalled that in various policy areas, such as roaming, gradual integration is already starting. He assured Ukraine of further financial assistance from the EU in the fight against the ongoing Russian invasion and efforts to adopt the 15th package of sanctions against Russia. He also mentioned that starting next year, Ukraine should receive aid in the amount of 1.5 billion euros per month from the proceeds of Russian assets frozen in the EU.
The European Union officially opened accession talks with Ukraine in June of this year. How long they will last and whether they will be successfully closed remains unclear. Ukraine is generally not considered likely to join the Union before the war ends. Costa took over as president of the European Council on Sunday, along with members of the new European Commission, which will again be led by President Ursula von der Leyen for the next five years.
Costa arrived in the Ukrainian capital together with the new head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kosova, who will also be in charge of accession talks with Kyiv. The aim of the visit on the first day of their tenure was to symbolically express support for Ukraine.
