Ukraine submits completed 2nd part of questionnaire to EU for candidate status

KYIV. May 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine on Monday submitted to the European Union the completed second part of the questionnaire required to obtain the status of a candidate for EU membership, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna said.

This document assessed the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with the European one (acquis communautaire), the deputy prime minister's press service said.

Answers to the second part is about 4,000 pages, which presents a picture of the state of Ukrainian legislation after eight years of implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU.

"We are optimistic that at the end of this month a positive conclusion will be signed by the president of the European Commission regarding Ukraine's future movement to the EU," Stefanishyna later said during the national telethon.

Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that he had held a working meeting via video link with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, where he showed the second part of the completed questionnaire for Ukraine's candidate status for EU membership.

Zelensky said that the second part of the questionnaire is transferred to Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas, the presidential press service said. "We are waiting for the consideration and conclusions of the European Commission. I would like these conclusions to be positive, and that thanks to you, the provision of conclusions will be accelerated," the president said.

For her part, Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Commission would work to review the completed questionnaire in order to make a decision in June of this year.

Von der Leyen gave Ukrainian President Zelensky the questionnaire on the possible accession to the EU in early April. On April 18, Ukraine completed and submitted to the European Commission the first part of the questionnaire on accession to the EU.

Ukraine will have to overcome several stages in order to join the EU. First, the European Commission should provide the EU countries with a recommendation on the candidacy. Then the EU leaders should decide whether to grant the country a candidate status and then whether to admit it to the EU. The candidate must meet a number of specific criteria. Each point is negotiated between Brussels and the candidate country. This process can be considerably protracted.