Ukraine has made “great strides” to join the EU since being granted candidate status in 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, offering the bloc’s enduring support.
She was addressing the European parliament as the bloc considers whether to grant a formal start of membership negotiations.
“We know this is not an easy road,” Reuters reports Von der Leyen said. “Accession is merit-based. It takes hard work and leadership. But there is already a lot of progress. We have seen the great strides Ukraine has already made since.”
“Our support to Ukraine will endure,” she said in her annual policy speech.
EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen is applauded after giving her annual State of the Union address. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images
She promised the bloc would extend special protections granted to Ukrainian citizens who fled Russia’s war, and lawmakers gave a standing ovation as Von der Leyen recounted the fate of Victoria Amelina, the Ukrainian writer and activist killed in the war against Ukraine after having sent her son to safety in Prague
