“Now we are no longer close. We are now together,” Mr. Zelensky told the Verkhovna Rada, praising the beginning of a new chapter in the history of his country’s relations with the European Union.

He said it was a “great honor and great responsibility” to work to “realize the aspirations” of the country.

“We have covered the 115-day journey to obtain candidate status and our journey to membership should not take decades. We must get there quickly,” the Ukrainian president said. “Ukraine struggles to choose its values, to be part of the European family.”

After her speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Ukraine’s leaders and parliamentarians via video that their country’s membership was within their reach, while calling on them to speed up anti-corruption reforms and to craft many nuanced advice on justice and the necessary reduction in justice. oligomer effect.

The flag of the European Union was placed in the seat of Parliament, along with the yellow and blue flag of Ukraine.

Mr. Zelensky, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stevanchuk signed a joint pledge to symbolize the unity of the three authorities in their efforts to join the European Union.

Ukraine formally applied for EU membership five days after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24. The union’s 27 members accepted his candidacy on June 23.

But the process is likely to take several years, as the examples of Turkey and the Balkan countries show, in particular due to the strict criteria relating to the rule of law and the economy of the candidate countries.