Kyiv, Ukraine. (source: AP/SITA)
Ukraine has a problem with corruption, but it is intensively fighting it, says KATARÍNA MATHERNOVÁ in an interview for daily Sme. From autumn, she will head the European Union diplomatic mission in Kyiv. According to her, Russian propaganda exaggerates the seriousness of this problem, because it knows that the public in the West reacts to it.
Katarína Mathernová. (source: Archive of K. M.)
The diplomat does not expect Ukraine to join the union in the next few years, but there may be a big shift in accession negotiations. These can continue even during the war. Mathernová considers the entry itself unlikely until the government has control over all of Ukrainian territory.
In the interview, Mathernová also describes how eastern Slovakia could benefit from the future renewal of Ukraine. However, the government must be active now, but it's really not, she warns.
From September, you will come to Kyiv as an EU ambassador. Could Ukraine become a member state during your tenure?
It's quite unlikely that Ukraine will join the Union during this period, but if its current determination endures, it will accomplish many steps that will bring it closer. Of course, all that will depend on when and how the war ends, which is not clear now.
Some people from the Ukrainian government said this could happen within two years.
The past is not always an accurate indicator of the future, but of the states that joined the Union in 2004, negotiations with Slovakia took the shortest time, and even then they lasted five years. Therefore it's not very likely that Ukraine would succeed in a significantly shorter time.
At the beginning of its negotiations, Slovakia was also not at war and did not have part of its territory under the control of a hostile neighbour. Can accession be talked about at all until Ukraine gets all of its territory under control?
Negotiations can take place even in this case. It's a demanding technical process and much can be done if you have the political will and commitment, and both are not lacking in Ukraine. However, realistically speaking, I don't see the possibility of accession itself until the government controls the entire country.
So we are talking maybe seven, eight years?
