European Council president says it's time to prepare for formal opening of first cluster in Ukraine's EU accession negotiations

European Council President António Costa has welcomed the approval of the EU's €90 billion loan for Ukraine and the 20th Russia sanctions package and called for preparations for the next step to begin.

Source: Costa at an informal EU summit in Cyprus, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Costa noted that 23 April had been a very good day, with two important steps taken: the €90 billion loan for Ukraine was unblocked and a new package of sanctions against Russia was approved.

Costa said the financial package will allow Ukraine to be supported during this year and next, helping Ukraine to meet essential needs and defend against Russian aggression.

He said the time has now come to go further and prepare for the next step – the formal opening of the first cluster in Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.

Background:

• Earlier, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed hope that the collapse of Viktor Orbán's regime in Hungary would give Ukraine a chance to accelerate its accession to the EU.
• In March, European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos declared all the negotiating clusters "informally open" for Ukraine.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!