Ukraine Says It Has Satisfied 70% Of Requirements For EU Membership

Ukraine wants political clarity from EU leaders by end of this year on its application to join the bloc, with Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration, claiming the country had fulfilled 70% of its EU accession obligations.

Photo Insert: The EU granted Ukraine candidate status on June 23, the first step on its path toward full-fledged membership.

“We need to understand how long and difficult our path to EU membership will be,” Stefanishyna said. The EU granted Ukraine candidate status on June 23, the first step on its path toward full-fledged membership, Ukraine Daily reported.

The Kyiv School of Economics has reported that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused direct losses worth $113 billion since Feb. 24.

Maksym Nefyodov, head of reform support projects at the Kyiv School of Economics, said that the team is actively collecting satellite images to analyze the destruction caused by the Russian military and using those in the “Russia will pay” project to assess needs for future recovery.

Sweden is opposed to a total ban on Russian tourist visas. Swedish Minister for Integration and Migration Anders Ygeman said his country supports strict limitations on visas for Russians, such as eliminating the simplified visa applications.

Ygeman added he believes that a complete ban would prevent Russian dissidents and researchers from coming into EU, which is “an exchange we still want to have with Russia.”

Germany will not stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and would not permit millions of people to be left at the mercy of Russia/ German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russian dictator Vladimir Putin refuses to talk “even about the simplest issues,” making it impossible to end the war through negotiations.

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