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Andrzej Duda and Zuzana Čaputová in Bratislava
Photo: Radek Pietruszka / EPA
Slovakia and Poland want to work to ensure that Ukraine is granted EU candidate status as quickly as possible.
That's what Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and her Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda said in Bratislava.
Both announced that they would jointly visit counterparts in countries that are skeptical about Ukraine's EU candidate status.
"It is important for the future of Europe and for peace in Europe that we talk about the future status of Ukraine," said Čaputová.
“That doesn't automatically mean full membership, for which the criteria have to be met, of course.
But we consider the granting of candidate status as a natural gesture in the difficult situation in which Ukraine is now,” said the President.
Duda said Ukraine is defending not only itself but also Europe "against the ambitions and imperial actions of today's Russia" and needs a signal of solidarity to do so.
"We know that it is very important for Ukrainian society today to feel the acceptance of the West," he said, explaining the candidate status.
Polish Air Force will also monitor Slovak airspace
Čaputová and Duda praised the bilateral cooperation between Poland and Slovakia.
As an example, they cited an agreement according to which the Polish Air Force should also monitor Slovakian airspace in the future so that Slovakia can hand over its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.
In June, the EU Commission wants to assess whether Ukraine can become an official candidate for EU membership.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this on Twitter on Monday after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
If the assessment of the Brussels authorities is positive, Ukraine could subsequently receive the status of an EU accession candidate if all EU states agree.
This in turn is a prerequisite for the start of accession negotiations.
In March, shortly after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began, Zelenskyy applied for EU membership.
The responsible commission is now examining this and had also sent a catalog of questions to the government in Kyiv.
"We look forward to the answers to the questionnaire on EU membership," wrote von der Leyen on Monday.
After the agency's assessment, EU countries can vote to give Ukraine official candidate status.
All 27 EU countries must agree to this.
Subsequent negotiations for an accession agreement usually take years.
Ultimately, all EU states must once again unanimously agree to the final accession.
svs/dpa