"The mother of all decisions": Kuleba warns of "devastating" consequences if EU summit does not start talks on Ukraine's accession
Such a development would show that the EU is unable to fulfill its historical obligations
If the participants of the EU summit scheduled for December 14-15 do not decide to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU, it will have "devastating" consequences for both Ukraine and the EU.
This opinion was expressed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday, December 11, in Brussels, where a meeting of EU foreign ministers took place that day, Reuters reports.
"The mother of all decisions, the most important decision is, of course, the decision to start accession negotiations," Kuleba said. – "I can't imagine, I don't even want to talk about the devastating consequences if the EU Council does not adopt this decision.
According to the Foreign Minister, such a development would show that the EU is not able to fulfill its historical obligations.
On Monday, Hungary said it would not succumb to pressure from other EU states to give the green light for Ukraine's accession talks.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who boasts of his ties to Russian dictator Putin, has threatened to veto Ukraine's accession talks and financial aid.
Other EU countries, including Germany, the richest member, have said they support starting talks with Kyiv on the long process of joining the bloc, but Budapest is ready to resist.
"The majority of European politicians want to make such important decisions that are completely unprepared and lack strategic agreement on the future of Europe," Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on Facebook before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels in preparation for the summit.
Ukraine has already fulfilled most of the commitments it took on in preparation for the start of EU accession negotiations, said Dmytro Kuleba.
In particular, three of the four laws that the European Commission requires to be adopted in Ukraine by March 2024 have been approved by the parliament and signed by the president of Ukraine, he added. These are the anti-corruption law, as well as the laws on education and minority languages, which Hungary insisted on adopting.
The only law that has not yet been adopted is aimed at limiting the influence of lobbyists, but this initiative has already been registered in the parliament and is being prepared for adoption, Kuleba assured.
Other issues on the agenda of the meeting of the EU foreign ministers include the allocation of 50 billion euros in financial aid to Kyiv and further military support for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
EU financial assistance is of key importance for the country amid unclear prospects for US support, the agency reminds.
When the foreign ministers went to a closed-door meeting, Dmytro Kuleba said in response to a question: "It would be a great disappointment for Ukrainians if the EU Council did not make a decision to start negotiations, but this will not stop them from fighting against Russia and working on European integration."
"Failure to approve this decision will mean blocking the process of EU enlargement with regard to other countries. This will have terrible consequences for the EU's reputation," Kuleba said. – "Ukraine will still be a member of the EU. It is only a matter of time and price," he added.
Background. As a reminder, as part of the adoption of laws necessary for EU accession, Ukraine passed a bill that restricts the use of the Russian language indefinitely.
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