‘Ukraine's move towards the EU also depends on the readiness of European institutions’ said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s integration into the EU took part in the discussion ‘Real policy/ideal policy: West after February 24’ within the framework of the ‘Riga Conference 2022’.

The participants discussed the format of the Eastern Partnership as a tool for the European integration of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze noted that the Eastern Partnership as a foreign policy format of cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours, which was launched back in 2009, does not longer exist today. Its participants — Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine — each went its own way. ‘The Eastern Partnership is dead, and we have to admit it. As the North American Indians say, if the horse is dead, dismount! We should focus on the future, not on the past, to look for new tools and opportunities’, said the Chair of the Committee.

She expressed her gratitude to the European community for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for the EU membership. She also appealed to the partner countries Moldova and Georgia with a call for stronger support for Ukraine: ‘We hope that Georgia and Moldova understand that if Ukraine falls, they will have no chance to keep their security, to preserve their independence and statehood. It is not only about our survival. If all of us together cannot defeat the Russian aggressor, it will have terrible consequences for your countries and for the entire geopolitical and security order in the world’. The Chair of the Committee is convinced that these countries can do a lot to support Ukraine: fight Russian propaganda, introduce additional sanctions against the Russian regime, deny entry for Russian deserters who are fleeing the Russian Federation instead of taking responsibility and oppose Putin's dictatorial regime.

Regarding Ukraine's prospects for transitioning from candidate status to the start of negotiations on joining the European Union, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is sure that a realistic approach should be used. In Ukraine, according to her, there is a great desire to move quickly. But this depends both on the speed of Ukraine, the implementation of the seven requirements, which accompanied granting Ukraine candidate status, and on the capacity and readiness of the institutions of the European Union. According to the Chair of the Committee, they should be ready to promptly provide feedback on urgent issues, such as conformity assessment, expertise, etc. ‘We do not have it now. And the speed is slower than the Ukrainian Government had hoped for. I belong to those people who appreciate and consider all aspects of this movement. So, I don't think we should expect accession negotiations to start in 2023, but I want to be wrong. And I assure you that in the Ukrainian Parliament, as well as, I hope, in the Government, we are ready to work on our part of the homework even though we must at the same time fight in this bloody war’, said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.