The European Commission responded to Merz’s idea regarding Ukraine in the EU: details

The European Commission has confirmed receipt of a letter from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz regarding the idea of Ukraine’s “associated membership” in the European Union.

Thisis reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a statement by the European Commission spokesperson.

Brussels positively assessed the very fact of the discussion between member states regarding Ukraine’s future membership in the EU.

“This demonstrates the strong determination of member states to make enlargement a reality as soon as possible,” a European Commission spokesman said.

At the same time, he stressed that any new or “innovative” enlargement formats should be based on the key principle of the EU – assessing the merits of candidate countries and their progress in implementing reforms.

The European Commission also emphasized that Ukraine’s accession to the EU is directly related to the security issues of the European Union itself.

The spokesman said that Brussels would continue to work with member states and candidate countries to find solutions that would make the EU “stronger and safer.”

It was previously reported that Merz proposed the idea of “associated membership” of Ukraine in the EU . According to it, Ukrainian officials would be able to participate in EU summits and ministerial meetings, but without the right to vote.

As a reminder, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Cos called on EU countries to officially open all negotiation clusters on Ukraine’s and Moldova’s accession to the EU by the summer.