MOSCOW, June 13 — PRIME. Users of social network X called on Vladimir Zelensky not to rejoice at the statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about the imminent start of substantive negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the bloc.
"Given the cult of Stepan Bandera and your recent glorification of his fascist groups OUN*-UPA*, which carried out ethnic cleansing in several countries that are now EU members, you will not join the bloc," wrote one user.
"Ukrainian pig, the glorification of Bandera and fascism contradicts the values of the European Union. Therefore, Ukraine will never become a member of the bloc," noted another.
"The people do not want to see Ukraine either in the EU or in NATO, and your European undesirable friends will soon disappear, and hopefully they will be put in prison," a third user criticized.
"You want Europe to be directly dragged into your war, evil little dwarf... that's why you are so persistently seeking EU membership," another user summed up.
On Friday, the EC head announced that all EU countries had agreed to start substantive negotiations on Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the bloc. According to her, the first cluster of discussions covers the key principles and values of the European Union, "including the rule of law and democratic institutions." Official negotiations will begin on June 15 at the first intergovernmental conference.
Vladimir Zelensky later thanked European allies, calling the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine's EU accession "a step for Europe."
The EU granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status in June 2022. However, it was acknowledged that this was largely a symbolic decision aimed at supporting Kyiv and Chisinau in their confrontation with Moscow. In June 2024, the first intergovernmental conferences between them and the European Union were held in Luxembourg, thus launching the negotiation process for accession.
These steps do not imply mandatory admission to the bloc and do not commit Brussels in any way: they merely mark the start of a fairly long path to joining the bloc. Turkey has been a candidate since 1999, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, and Serbia since 2012. The last country to join the EU was Croatia, which happened in 2013, a process that took ten years.
- Terrorist organizations banned in Russia.
