The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU, Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze, took part in the conference “Ukraine in the European
Union: Time to Act”, which was held in the Italian Senate. This event was
organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Rome, the Embassy of
Ukraine in Rome, Senator Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata and the Representation
of the European Commission in Italy.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked Italy, its government and its people
for their loyal support of Ukraine. She emphasised the tectonic shift in
Italy's policy towards Ukraine, which took place after the full-scale
invasion of the Russian Federation. “Now it is important to ensure unity
around Ukraine: to stand with Ukraine as long as it takes, until victory.
To support Ukraine in the transformations necessary to achieve its
strategic goals — membership in the EU and NATO, as well as to assist in
the post-war recovery and reconstruction. Not only Ukraine but also of all
European states will benefit from it,” said the Chair of the Committee.
She noted that Ukraine is currently completing the seven requirements that
accompanied the granting of candidate status. “We are waiting for a
positive assessment and a positive conclusion from the European Commission
based on the results of fulfilling the seven requirements. And then we
hope for the decision of the EU member states, their political will to
take the next step and open membership negotiations already this year,”
said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze. She noted that a decision to open
membership negotiations will attract additional attention to Ukraine from
European partners. This is important from the point of strengthening
institutions and carrying out the large amount of work that is necessary
to transform the country in accordance with EU requirements.
The Chair of the Committee emphasised that considering this volume of
work, all branches of power in Ukraine should realistically estimate the
time frame for joining the EU. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stated that
despite the martial law Ukraine should not give up the milestones that
have been already achieved on the path of democratic transformation, in
particular, decentralisation and freedom of speech: “I hope that our
partners from the EU will support us with their knowledge, experience,
expertise and share lessons learned, so that we can avoid the mistakes
that other countries made on this path.”
Regarding the reconstruction of Ukraine, the Chair of the Committee noted
the importance of creating the Ukraine facility — a mechanism that
provides for the accumulation of 50 billion euros over four years to
support Ukraine. At the same time, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasised
that the reconstruction needs of our state significantly exceed this
amount. “When it comes to the fact that the Ukraine facility should help
Ukraine in post-war reconstruction, there is probably an incomplete
understanding of the extent of the damage and reconstruction needed.
Russia, unfortunately, is doing everything possible to wipe us off the
face of the earth, leaving behind a burnt and mined desert. Therefore,
demining is a challenging task in addition to liberation and
reconstruction,” the Chair of the Committee noted.
She insisted that now is not the time to get tired of supporting Ukraine.
“We need to keep ourselves and our societies mobilised to win this war and
ensure that the democratic space of freedom and prosperity expands to
those countries that seek it and defend the values of the free world. I
hope that Ukraine will be perceived in the EU not only as a state that
needs support, but also as a state that will make the EU stronger
economically, geopolitically and morally,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze
concluded.