The voluntarism of Ursula von der Leyen and the ability of Volodymyr Zelensky to assert its cause allowed the gradual tilting of the twenty-seven member states.
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When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, nobody in the European sphere, imagined that kyiv would be granted, four months later almost day, the status of candidate for entry into the European Union (EU). Thursday, June 23, in the evening, the heads of European state and government, however, granted it to him. “We would have committed a political fault (…) if we had not stretched our hands to Ukraine,” said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, seeing “a political gesture” from Europe. “We have advanced in step as a giant” and “all this, we owe it to the Ukrainian people, who fight to defend our values, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity”, he continued.
“Today, you have made one of the most important decisions for Ukraine since its independence thirty years ago”, in 1991, praised Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech in videoconferencing before its European counterparts. “What a path we have traveled in three months!” Continued the Ukrainian president, dressed in his usual khaki t-shirt.
When the war started, the community horizon of kyiv seemed to be widely blocked. Since the last enlargement -at Croatia in 2012 -the twenty -seven were reluctant to further postpone their borders. In December 2016, two and a half years after the invasion of Crimea by Russia, they had also refused to Ukraine the “European perspective”, the prerequisite for the status of candidate in the EU.
The return of war to the borders of Europe, the adhesion of public opinion to the Ukrainian cause, the voluntarism of the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the talent of Mr. Zelensky to assert Its cause changed the situation. kyiv was finally able to access the EU door in a few weeks. 2> “We will need Europe”
During the night of February 23 to 24, at 4 am, when Russian shots fall on his country, Mr. Zelensky calls Charles Michel, the president of the council. His voice does not tremble, he is determined. “We are going to need Europe”, he challenges him. A few hours later, the twenty-seven meet in Brussels to discuss the situation. Olive green t-shirt and marked face, the former actor is for them. “I see you today, you see me. It is not certain that, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I will still be alive,” he says. The moment is chilling, but it accelerates the awareness of Europeans.
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