Ukraine’s mooted membership of the EU would only bring benefits to Poland, a Polish minister told delegates at a meeting in Kyiv.
Adam Szłapka, the Minister for European Union Affairs, met with his German counterpart, Anna Lührmann, as well as the French Ambassador to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
“First of all, we should unequivocally talk about the benefits because we are moving the border of stability, democracy, and prosperity beyond the Polish border,” said Szłapka.
Continuing, he drew parallels between Germany’s support of Poland’s EU bid over two decades ago: "This is exactly the point of view from which Germany was so keen to expand the European Union. From the point of view of our security, this is a critical issue,” he said.
Szłapka added: “The second point: our greatest benefit after joining the European Union was entering the European single market. Poland has developed (thanks to this) in an incredible way. Ukraine's membership in the EU will be, colloquially speaking, a harvest for Polish entrepreneurs, because they will simply be able to operate even more in this market.”
However, Szłapka cautioned that Ukrainians should not expect unconditional support and that member states would seek a deal that would act in their own best interests.
“We understand that Ukraine is in a very difficult situation, and we support it by providing weapons and humanitarian aid,” he said. “But we are also discussing that Ukrainian society must realize that Poland, France, and Germany have their own interests. So we need to use our negotiations to find the best solutions.”
Szłapka stressed Poland’s support for Ukraine’s European aspirations and said that Poland would happily advise on the accession process: “We still have fresh experience of accession and the entire accession process - we can help with this,” he said. “And we also have our own experience related to the restoration of the rule of law, and this is an invaluable matter.”
“First of all, we should unequivocally talk about the benefits because we are moving the border of stability, democracy, and prosperity beyond the Polish border,” said Szłapka.
Continuing, he drew parallels between Germany’s support of Poland’s EU bid over two decades ago: "This is exactly the point of view from which Germany was so keen to expand the European Union. From the point of view of our security, this is a critical issue,” he said.
Szłapka added: “The second point: our greatest benefit after joining the European Union was entering the European single market. Poland has developed (thanks to this) in an incredible way. Ukraine's membership in the EU will be, colloquially speaking, a harvest for Polish entrepreneurs, because they will simply be able to operate even more in this market.”
However, Szłapka cautioned that Ukrainians should not expect unconditional support and that member states would seek a deal that would act in their own best interests.
“We understand that Ukraine is in a very difficult situation, and we support it by providing weapons and humanitarian aid,” he said. “But we are also discussing that Ukrainian society must realize that Poland, France, and Germany have their own interests. So we need to use our negotiations to find the best solutions.”
Szłapka stressed Poland’s support for Ukraine’s European aspirations and said that Poland would happily advise on the accession process: “We still have fresh experience of accession and the entire accession process - we can help with this,” he said. “And we also have our own experience related to the restoration of the rule of law, and this is an invaluable matter.”
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