Ukraine can easily cope with EU demands for reforms, said German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen.
“I think that Ukraine can easily cope with them, because these are really demands that have already been in place for many years. There is already progress. Perhaps not the progress that Ukrainians themselves would like, especially in the field of judicial reform … We, your partners, especially the G7, are constantly in contact with the Ukrainian government regarding these issues,” Feldhusen said at a briefing at the Ukraine media center on Monday.
The diplomat stressed that for her the most important issue has always been judicial reform in Ukraine.
“We have successfully implemented the decentralization reform. I think that this is really a success story. But the judicial reform is the second reform that will really change the country. All the years that I have been working in Ukraine, I have watched the steps that have been taken, I I will continue to do so,” she said.
Feldhusen pointed out that judicial reform “has never been easy.”
“But if there is political will, a lot can be done there,” she said.
As reported, the European Commission recommended that the European Council grant Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union with the subsequent implementation of the necessary steps. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen indicated that this meant the country would pursue a number of further important reforms.
President of the European Council Charles Michel has announced that the issue of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for membership of the European Union will be included in the agenda of the upcoming summit, which will be held in Brussels on June 23-24.
He wrote about this on his Twitter page. “Candidate status will feature on next week’s EUCO agenda. Called President Zelensky to inform him of way forward. We stand united with the people of Ukraine in solidarity and in our common future, ” the President of the European Council wrote.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, commenting on her phone conversation with Zelensky, wrote on her Twitter page: “I was very moved by President Zelensky’s kind words over the phone today, following our recommendation to grant Ukraine the candidate status. The Ukrainians can count on the EU_Commission’s constant support as they move along the path to the European Union,” she assured.
The agricultural holding KSG Agro has signed a contract with a Ukrainian oil extraction plant for production of sunflower and soybean oil from its raw materials with subsequent export of finished products to the European Union, according to a press release from the agrarian group on Thursday.
“Our military realities are pushing for the search for new strategic solutions. So we decided that rapeseed and sunflower seeds will be processed, since there are more chances to sell such products abroad in the form of the same vegetable oil, ready for consumption, at a better price than just sunflower seeds,” KSG Agro quotes its board chairman Serhiy Kasyanov.
He recalled that the blockade of Ukrainian seaports due to Russian military aggression makes traditional supply chains and export supplies of grain and oilseed agricultural products impossible.
It is specified that the refinement and packaging of vegetable oil will be carried out in the EU countries, and relevant negotiations are currently underway with European partners.
Sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine to Europe will be transported by trucks, for which KSG Agro has already purchased flexitank containers in Turkey, which will allow transporting 22-24 tonnes of oil in conventional trucks.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding, as well as production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21,000 hectares.
According to the agricultural holding itself, it is among the top five pork producers in Ukraine.
The European Union sees no threat to its food security in connection with the situation in Ukraine and will try to contribute to ensuring global food security, said EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
“Fortunately, we do not see a direct threat (food security) in European markets. The main problem on them is corn, which we import from Ukraine. It is important for feed production in Europe. But imports from Ukraine are still even larger than in previous years,” Wojciechowski said on Monday evening at a press conference following the meeting of the EU Council at the level of ministers of agriculture.
The central topic of the meeting was the threat of a global food crisis in connection with the Ukrainian issue.
The problem that the EU sees, according to the official, is to organize “corridors of solidarity” for grain supplies to third countries.
The meeting also presented a forecast for the grain harvest for the current year in the EU countries. It will be “for sure more than in 2021, and in 2023 the grain harvest will be no less than in 2022, subject to the same weather conditions.”
“In Europe, we have the necessary food security. (…) We must ensure that Europe contributes to global food security,” added the European Commissioner.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that keeping Ukraine outside the EU, European unification works against Europe.
“The final stage of a large diplomatic marathon has begun, which should end in a week and a half. And we are in this marathon together with the European Union, on the same team,” he said in a traditional video message on Saturday evening.
According to Zelensky, “we will soon receive an answer about the status of a candidate for EU membership.”
“I am convinced that this decision can strengthen not only our state, but the entire European Union. What else needs to happen in Europe to make it clear to skeptics that the very fact of keeping Ukraine outside the EU, European unification works against Europe?” he.
For example, the president noted, “everything is obvious to the Russian occupiers, they say so when they mock our people, this is supposedly because Ukraine went to Europe. Where are the skeptics in Europe then?”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the European Union’s response to Ukraine’s application for membership will show whether Europe has a future.
“Now, of course, is a decisive time. Not only for Ukraine, but also for the European Union, for the entire European continent. Now it is being decided what the future of a united Europe will be like and whether it will be at all. Russia wants to destroy European unity, wants to leave Europe split and weak. All of Europe is a target for Russia, and Ukraine is only the first stage in this aggression, in these plans,” Zelensky said at a briefing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv on Saturday.
That is why, according to the head of state, “a positive response of the European Union to the Ukrainian application for EU membership can become a positive answer to the question – does the European project have a future at all.”
Zelensky stressed that the people of Ukraine have already made a great contribution to the protection of freedom and values shared with the European Union.
“Thousands of Ukrainian lives were given to live in Ukraine and all of Europe as a person, to live freely. During such a brutal war, Ukrainians made sure that state and public institutions remain stable. Our people are absolutely integrated into the European space,” he said.
He also noted that polls conducted among the European population showed that people support Ukraine in joining the EU.
“And this is fair. And we are really looking forward to the recognition of this reality at the political level on June 23-24, when the historic meeting of the European Council for us should take place. Its logical decision should be to grant Ukraine the status of an EU candidate country. We really believe in this … The Ukrainian people will do everything necessary for the European integration of Ukraine,” Zelensky stressed, adding that “the European project definitely cannot be completed without Ukraine.”
EU, EUROPE, FUTURE, MEMBERSHIP, ZELENSKY
