by Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has supported the European Union (EU) for Ukraine’s accession negotiations to begin next month.
In a speech given at a conference in Berlin, the minister presented the enlargement of the EU as a geostrategic necessity, while affirming that the 27 must engage in profound reforms in order to be able to function at more than 30 members.
“We want Ukraine to become a member of our European Union,” said Annalena Baerbock, who belongs to the Green party in Germany’s ruling coalition. “The European Union must enlarge. This is the geopolitical consequence of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
The speech comes just over a month before the summit which is to be held from December 14 to 15 in Brussels, during which European leaders will have to decide on the official opening of accession negotiations.
“I am convinced that the European Council in December will send this signal,” said Annalena Baerbock.
“However, the enlarged EU will only be stronger if we do what we have been reluctant to do for so long: review and rethink the way our Union works,” she added.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, with contributions from Ferenc Gaal in Berlin; French version by Mariana Abreu, editing by Kate Entringer)
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