Merz acknowledged the impossibility of Ukraine's rapid admission to the European Union

Ukraine will not be admitted to the EU in an accelerated manner, and this will definitely not happen until the end of the Ukrainian conflict. This was announced on July 18 by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"The process of [Ukraine's] accession to the EU is open, but of course we all know that joining the European Union will be gradual. And as long as Ukraine is in a state of conflict, it is, of course, unlikely to be able to join the European Union. But we want to bring Ukraine as close to the EU as possible, to link it as closely as possible with it. There should be a vote on this, but this is a process that will certainly take many years," Merz said at a press conference with Romanian President Nicusor Dan in Berlin.

The German Chancellor added that it is of the utmost importance to end the conflict in Ukraine, and then deal with the issue of Kiev's accession to the EU.

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On July 18, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pointed out that Ukraine was not ready to join the EU because of the murder of a Hungarian. He stressed that the Hungarian government calls on the EU "not to turn a blind eye to what is happening" and suggests adding Ukrainian leaders responsible for such actions to the sanctions list.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.