The head of the PS list for Europeans considered on Monday that the visit of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Portugal shows that the path to the country’s integration into the European Union “needs to continue to be walked.”
During a rally in Setubal on the first day of the official campaign of the European Championship on June 9, Marta Temido was asked about the visit of the President of Ukraine to Portugal announced this Monday, during which she will hold meetings with the head of Portuguese state Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
“This visit of President Zelensky, which has been long awaited, is also news that shows the path that undoubtedly needs to continue to be followed, and here this part of the Iberian Peninsula would like to have this contact and I think this is very important.” , he emphasized.
According to the head of the socialist list, already during the pre-election period the PS delegation congratulated the Ukrainian ambassador to Portugal.
“A very important conversation because the Ambassador told us that she expects (…) that the next steps for Ukraine’s integration into the European Union can still be worked out during the Belgian Presidency, and apparently it was also recently signed that it could still happen,” he said.
According to Marta Temido, “there was also a conversation about financial assets and expectations regarding their release and use for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” which also happened.
The PS candidate ruled out any reluctance to integrate the Ukrainian country into the European Union, believing that there is “a path that needs to be taken seriously and on both sides” to ensure that the Copenhagen criteria are met from the very beginning, as “This is a merit-based process.” “
“On the part of the European Union, the need to adapt both budgets, decision-making rules and a number of other aspects to what constitutes the integration of another Member State, which is not a small Member State, which currently has a very specific context, which makes all this work difficult,” he said.
According to Temido, the European Union has persistently supported Ukraine, noting that this has happened “from the first hour and through consistent efforts to respond to the needs” of the country, be it at the humanitarian, institutional, financial or political level.