“Today is a turning point for European history, providing momentum for the EU to exercise a proactive role at regional and global levels and build the Union’s geopolitical power whilst reducing Russia’s influence in EU neighborhood countries,” they say.
In their Joint Statement, the Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees highlight that the majority of Europeans support Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and an absolute majority of Ukrainians desire Ukraine to join the European Union.
“Ukraine is an integral part of Europe, and we must be strong and convincing in our response to Ukraine’s desire to join the Union. We also acknowledge that there are other potential candidates who aspire to join the European Union,” they point out.
The Joint Statement underlines that Ukrainian people are fighting for their country, their own lives, freedom, and democracy, or for the same values we need to be fundamentally European. “Therefore, granting EU candidate status to Ukraine would be an important political signal of support and hope for Ukraine and would reaffirm our commitment to our political ideals and foundational beliefs. We call on the Member States of the European Union to open up to Ukraine a realistic prospect of membership in the European Union by granting it the status of a candidate country in the forthcoming European Council on 23-24 June 2022,” the Statement says.
The Joint Statement is signed by the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the European Parliament. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima Rihards Kols (National Alliance) signed the Statement on behalf of Latvia.
Full text of the Statement is avilable here in English.