Ukraine and EU flags near the building of the European Parliament in Brussels. File photoROME, May 31.Almost all major EU member states oppose granting Ukraine the status of a candidate to join the union, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at a press conference following the meeting of the leaders of the organization. According to the politician, in recent months, «to sweeten the pill», there have appeared the concept of replacing the status of a candidate with formulations such as «belonging to a common European family, community, group of countries in anticipation of … (accession to the EU, — Approx. ed.»).» I think that these concepts are unacceptable for Ukrainians. But they still have other countries that have been waiting in line for years to join are suspicious of it. You can have candidate status, and we can grant it, but so far this is not foreseen due to opposition from other countries,» Draghi explained. However, he admitted the possibility of organizing accelerated process to that status, and the European Commission will present a report on this issue at the end of the month. cf.jpg» />Candidate for candidate: why the European Union is disowning Ukraine»The EC is quite supportive of such a prospect,» the prime minister concluded. On February 28, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application for accession to the EU, after which he received from the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen questionnaire to start negotiations, which Kyiv filled out and sent to Brussels. The EC reported that they would provide a conclusion in June. Some countries — the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — support the idea of Ukraine joining the union, but not everyone agrees with this. Thus, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that Kyiv and Brussels should find another way to build relations that does not imply full membership in the EU. The New York Times: Ukraine will not be admitted to the European Union for four reasons
