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When asked about Ukraine's EU accession, Ondřej Ditrych told Deutsche Welle that there is no chance the country will be able to join the EU in 2027, and that it is difficult to imagine that "someone seriously promised this to Kyiv".
For this to happen, Ondrej explained that the entire accession process would have to be fundamentally changed, which would require the political will of all member states. While Ukraine has made impressive progress on the negotiating chapters, this deadline remains unrealistic. Today "it is difficult to reasonably speak about any specific date for Ukraine's accession to the EU," he added.
While the idea of an accelerated procedure for joining the EU with phased access to all rights is emerging, it does not mean that it has broad support, Ondrej noted. According to him, phased membership for Ukraine is possible and realistic, but it means Kyiv would receive certain EU benefits "before official accession, and not vice versa. (in Ukrainian)