Zelensky Thanks Czech Republic for Supporting Ukraine's EU Bid

President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala for his consistent support for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership.

“Thanked Czech Republic’s PM Petr Fiala for the consistent support of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership,” Zelensky posted on Twitter.

As noted, the parties discussed the priorities of the Czech presidency of the Council of EU in the 2nd half of the year.

“It’s important that the main priority of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union is Ukraine,” the President stressed.

As reported, on June 17, the European Commission published its conclusions on the applications for accession to the EU filed by Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia and made a recommendation to grant the first two candidate status.

The European Council is due to consider the issue and make a final decision at the summit on June 23-24.

However, Mr. Fiala stressed that the subsequent accession process will not be quick or easy, and that no one can say now how long it will take the two countries to meet the conditions for admission.

The leaders of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Kosovo are frustrated that the EU is rapidly granting candidate status to post-Soviet countries, while their progress on the road to the union is stagnating.

Meanwhile, the Czech government decree barring the issuing of visas and residence permits to Russians and Belarusians has been extended until the end of March next year.

The government began rejecting visa applications for Russians after their country launched a war on Ukraine in February. It extended the ban to citizens of Belarus later. Exceptions can be made in humanitarian cases.