Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski warned today ahead of a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of European Union countries that Ukraine must meet all the set criteria if it wants to become a full member.
"With each decade of the EU's existence, it becomes more difficult to join it, not easier, because the achievements of European law and integration are greater and deeper. Technical negotiations have lasted seven years for us, and we need to be sure that Ukraine will be ready and that enlargement will be a success for both sides," said Sikorski.
The head of Polish diplomacy emphasized that all criteria for joining the EU must be fully met.
Sikorski also expressed hope that the ministers would manage to agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia today, and highlighted new sanctions on the shadow fleet, ships under foreign flags often in disastrous condition that transport Russian oil, as well as new sanctions on the Russian military industry and the expansion of the list of individuals responsible for the war in Ukraine.
"Putin used to belittle Europe, and now he sees that Europe knows how to be solidary and efficient," said Sikorski.
The Polish minister supported Estonia's initiative to ban Russian war veterans from entering the EU.
"The point is that people whose morale was destroyed by the war and who are guilty of war crimes cannot go on vacation, say to the French Riviera," said Sikorski.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised last week that Poland would not bring its bilateral disputes with Ukraine, such as over painful chapters of the shared historical past, into the Ukrainian integration process.
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