German defence minister says agreeing on EU accession date for Ukraine is realistic
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said it is realistic to agree on a specific date for Ukraine's accession to the European Union, but stressed that this would require negotiations and separate preparatory work.
Pistorius was asked at a briefing ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers to respond to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent assertion that Ukraine needs a date to be set for its EU accession since EU membership is part of the security guarantees.
Pistorius said he thinks it is realistic to agree on a date: "A specific date is always possible."
He cautioned, however, that determining the date would require separate work.
"What should it be? This has to be negotiated. It's not something that can be decided in the heat of the moment," he said.
Pistorius's comments are the first indication from the German government that this demand from Ukraine is considered acceptable.
Earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it is not possible for Ukraine to join the EU on 1 January 2027, but he neither confirmed nor denied that another date might be agreed on.
This week, Zelenskyy stated again that Ukraine needs a specific date for EU accession to be defined within the peace negotiations.