Conflicts & War

EU Council chief visits Kyiv days after Zelenskyy requests candidate status

Kyiv, Apr 20 (EFE).- European Council president Charles Michel arrived in Kyiv Wednesday to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy two days after the Ukrainian leader filed a formal request to have his country recognized as a candidate for European Union membership.

The unannounced visit by the former Belgian prime minister comes nearly two weeks after similar trips by the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.

“In Kyiv today. In the heart of a free and democratic Europe,” a statement shared on Michel’s official Twitter page read.

Zelenskyy on Sunday handed a completed questionnaire requesting EU candidate status for Ukraine to the bloc’s ambassador to his country, Matti Massikas.

“Today is one of the stages for our country in joining the European Union, the aspiration that our people are striving for and fighting for,” he said during the meeting.

Kyiv hopes the request will be discussed at the next EU summit in June.

A number of European leaders have visited Kyiv since invading Russian troops withdrew from the region to refocus efforts in eastern Ukraine. EFE

int-gc/jt/ch

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