Prime Minister of the Netherlands' there is no accelerated procedure for Ukraine's accession to the EU
Mark Rutte
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, doesn't see the possibility of Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU, saying that such an accelerated accession procedure doesn't exist.
Rutte said this when he arrived at the summit of EU leaders in Versailles on Thursday, the EP reports.
Rutte said the Netherlands was one of the first countries to come out with Ukraine's military support and one of the first to come up with a powerful package of sanctions against Russia. However, Rutte sees no prospects for the possibility of Ukraine's accelerated accession to the EU.
"There should be no doubt that the Netherlands and Ukraine stand side by side, but there is no such thing as an accelerated accession. It does not exist," said the Dutch prime minister.
Rutte said that all the Western European countries he spoke to said that one should not try to introduce an accelerated procedure or an accelerated accession process. "But the question of whether or not Ukraine's membership is currently out of the question," he said.
Earlier, Rutte said that his country was trying to do everything possible for Ukraine in the short term. But it is not time to talk about EU membership.
According to media reports, EU leaders are set to promise support for Ukraine at an informal summit on Thursday but are unlikely to offer Ukraine accelerated EU membership.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was waiting for a concrete signal from EU leaders.
