On the way to the European Union, Ukraine will have to fully adapt its legislation, states Olha Stefanishyna, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.
According to her, Ukraine's accession to the European Union is a long process. In this way, Ukraine will have to fully adapt its legislation, legal system, and economy to the EU conditions. This will allow the country to function within the internal market so that there are no barriers to the movement of citizens.
"We will have to do a lot within the framework of the negotiations so that we do not feel like strangers within the European family. If the negotiations start next week, we expect the first stage in July, during which we will assess the compliance of our legislation in a number of areas and understand our obligations," Stefanishyna said.
Ukraine's accession to the EU
In December last year, the European Council supported the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU during a summit in Brussels.
This year, EU ambassadors approved guidelines for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the bloc. It was reported that the talks were to begin on June 25. At the same time, Polish Minister for EU Affairs Adam Szlapka warned that Ukraine's accession talks with the EU could be difficult due to the presence of controversial issues in some areas.
In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine Anneli Kolk said that negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU could take less than ten years.