BERLIN (Reuters) - Ukraine should become part of the European Union, the leader of Germany's governing Social Democrats told news magazine Der Spiegel in comments published on Friday.
BERLIN (Reuters) – Ukraine should become part of the European Union, the leader of Germany’s governing Social Democrats told news magazine Der Spiegel in comments published on Friday.
EU leaders on Thursday condemned the “unspeakable suffering” Russia was inflicting on Ukraine but at a summit in France, they refused Kyiv’s appeal for rapid accession to the bloc and differed over the reach of sanctions against Moscow.
Klingbeil told Spiegel: “It is elementarily important that we offer proximity and security to the states that lie between us and Russia and that share our democratic and liberal values.”
In view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the prospects of EU accession would have to be boosted, he said.
“Negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania should start promptly. And Ukraine should also become part of the European Union,” Klingbeil said.
Klingbeil’s Social Democrats (SPD) are the largest party in Germany’s ruling coalition, led by SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Miranda Murray)
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: