Ukraine has now completed the first stage of the process toward European Union membership, according to an announcement made Monday by the Ukrainian president's office.
"Today I can state that the document is already completed on the Ukrainian side," announced Ihor Zhovkva, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, in statements broadcast on Ukrainian public television and quoted by Reuters news agency. "We hope that the recommendation ... will be positive and now the ball is in the member states' court."
According to the news published by the newspaper Negócios, the questionnaire was delivered by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, directly to Volodymyr Zelenkskiy during his visit to Ukraine on April 8. At the time, the Ukrainian leader said that Ukraine wanted to be swift in completing this questionnaire.
And on the Brussels side, promises were also made to expedite consideration of the document. "It will not be a matter of years, as usual, to form this opinion, but I think it will be a matter of weeks," von der Leyen said at the time.
The war in Ukraine is heading toward the two-month mark. Russia advanced into Ukrainian territory in the early hours of February 24th, after long weeks of reinforcing military personnel in the border regions.