President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola believes that the timeframe for consideration of Ukraine's application for membership in the European Union will be much shorter than in other cases, if the Ukrainian side promptly responds to the questionnaire of the European Commission.
Metsola expressed this opinion in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on a promise made during a speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March 1 to help Ukraine obtain candidate status.
"I saw so many EU flags in Kyiv... This is a moment for us to open our arms. I spoke with Prime Minister Denis Shmygal in Kiev about how they are waiting for a list of questions to come in today or tomorrow. They hope to be able to answer them in four days. Olga told me (Olga Stefanishina - Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration) that they need four days (to answer them).Of course, then the ball is back in our side, and this is where the European Parliament comes into play. We will make sure that every step is taken. I think that if the Ukrainians give us answers very quickly, the time frame will also be more narrowed than in other situations," the president of the European Parliament explained.
I know what it is like to be a candidate when my country was a candidate (Malta became EU member in 2004, formal accession negotiations started in 2000) for membership in the European Union. To be a candidate is a huge amount of help that the country can get regarding infrastructure, cohesion, educational programs, access to all other EU programs, etc. And this will start immediately, which will also send a signal to Ukraine that we are serious," she reasoned.
Speaking about the forthcoming donor conference for Ukraine initiated by the EU leadership, the President of the European Parliament said that no concrete details of this event were available yet. Metsola reported on the possibility of a TEC-donors conference of companies such as Google. "They would like to be able to help Ukraine not only financially, but also logistically. We can provide an opportunity to make that happen," she added, adding that such a measure could take place at the ministerial level.
Another idea that Metsola discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the purpose of rebuilding Ukraine after the war, she called the assistance of the twin cities. "There will be a program, and that's also part of the candidate status, providing that there will be European with your sister cities. There is tremendous interest from individual mayors in different European cities to help financially in the reconstruction of the sister city. This will be done at the city level when Ukraine wins this war," the president of the European Parliament explained.
She said she would "never forget how brave and courageous the Ukrainian people are. "If we were just a little bit like them in our work, then we would be one step ahead in bringing peace and freedom to such a great nation," Metsola added emotionally, adding, "I made another promise - to come to Kiev with my husband and children when this was over. And my husband said - we have to do it and take our children.You know, that's the first thing Zelensky asked me - have you been to Ukraine before? I said no.And he said - we have to make sure we get more people to visit Ukraine."
