European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visits Kyiv ahead of report on accession progress

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Ukraine’s Kyiv on Saturday.

She’s here before the European Union shares a report next week about Ukraine’s progress in its membership bid, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a Ukrainian lawmaker said.

Zheleznyak mentioned on his Telegram channel that von der Leyen will probably speak in the Ukrainian parliament, reported Reuters.

During her visit, von der Leyen is expected to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The report, expected on Wednesday, will showcase how much progress Ukraine has made in meeting the requirements for joining the EU, like fulfilling various economic, legal, and other criteria to clear the way for accession talks to be launched in December.

Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The EU’s 27 members are due at a summit in December to decide whether to allow Kyiv to begin accession negotiations, a move requiring the unanimous backing of all the bloc’s members.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, earlier said that she was confident the bloc would advance Ukraine’s application next month. reported Reuters.

Notably, joining the EU takes a lot of time and involve extensive legal, political and economic reform. It’s even tougher for Ukraine because they’re still fighting a war in their south and east.

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With inputs from agencies