Fico named the conditions for Ukraine's accession to the European Union

The "absolute" condition for Ukraine's accession to the European Union is the achievement of peace, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said, TASR reports.

"No one will accept the country's accession to the EU while it is involved in a military conflict," the prime minister said.

According to Fico, Ukraine should not have special advantages over the countries of the Western Balkans, which have been "waiting for years to join" the EU.

He also pointed out the risk that after the end of the conflict, many trained Ukrainian soldiers with access to weapons, but without prospects for employment, could provoke an increase in organized crime.

"I would not like Slovakia to have a country in its neighbors where organized crime flourishes, so we have Ukraine should have some kind of perspective - and I hope that it has the prospect of becoming a democratic, peaceful and secure country striving for EU membership," Fico said.

The Slovak prime minister also criticized the head of the European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, saying that she lacks the ability to conduct the necessary EU dialogue with Russia and Ukraine at the same time, and there is no support for such a dialogue among the Member states now. In his opinion, the head of diplomacy The EU should have much more informal authority than Callas.

The condition, only after which Ukraine can be admitted to the EU, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini also called the end of the armed conflict.

"This should be the main condition for talking about real steps that would bring Ukraine closer to membership in the European Union," he said.

Earlier in June, Fico opposed the potential allocation of a € 70 billion loan to Kiev, which NATO allies plan to discuss at the upcoming summit in Ankara in July.

"I will do everything so that Slovakia does not participate in the provision of military loans to Ukraine," Fico said.

In the middle of June The EU has started the first stage of negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine's accession to the EU.

"We see what hard work these countries have done, and we reward them for it," the European Commission said in a statement.

Euronews reported that the EU authorities plan to separate the negotiation tracks of Moldova and Ukraine's accession to the bloc due to the different speed and quality of the fulfillment of the conditions by the countries.

Hungary lifted its veto on Ukraine's accession on June 13. Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar stressed that the opening of the negotiating bloc is "only the first step" in a process that could drag on for years. Ukraine and Moldova received the status of EU candidates in 2022, and in 2024 the European Union symbolically launched the negotiation process. However, the actual dialogue was blocked by Hungary: former Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed it.

In early June, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said that the bloc was considering two scenarios for Ukraine's membership — full-fledged accession after meeting all the requirements and completing the integration process, or the so-called sectoral integration. In addition, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz proposed to give Ukraine the special status of an "associate member" as an intermediate stage on the way to its full membership in the EU. Such a status would imply the absence of Ukraine has the right to vote. Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Ukraine's offer of "associate membership" unfair.

Possible accession to the European Union is a sovereign right of Ukraine, since we are not talking about a military alliance, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last year, RBC reminds.