The procedure for joining the European Union is quite clear, and Ukraine must demonstrate progress. There is also no legal reason for Ukraine not to become a member of NATO.

 In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine, Bartosz Cihotsky, told about this.

 Accession to the EU

 "As far as the EU is concerned, the calendar is very clear. Together with the granting of candidate status to Ukraine, seven areas were indicated where we expect progress. As far as I understand, the Ukrainian team is confident that the results of this work will be submitted to the EU in December," said Tsihotskyi.

 According to him, the European Commission should give an assessment of this progress in the second half of next year. And, depending on this assessment, talks about Ukraine's accession to the EU may begin.

 "There is no clear schedule here. There are countries that have been conducting these accession negotiations for more than 30 years. There are those that have been conducting these accession negotiations for 10 years, and there is some progress. That is, it will depend on your reforms, but also on the situation. No one is naive to you does not say that this is a purely technical procedure," the ambassador added.

 Joining NATO

 As Tsyhotsky noted, Poland "is most interested - not because of our pro-Ukrainian position, but because, in our opinion, it would be very good for the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic - for Ukraine to be a full member of NATO."

 "But for us, this is not some kind of political, philosophical topic. For us, the quality of this membership is very important - that you be a quality member of NATO," the ambassador said.

 According to him, there are topics that we already repeat like a mantra - democratic control over the Armed Forces, SBU reform, etc. We talked about this before the aggression and very clearly explained what needed to be done. For example, the weapon procurement system.

 "Nonetheless: there is nothing in the Washington Treaty that it is not possible to talk about this (accession to NATO, - ed.) during the war... The doors of NATO must be opened, there is no legal reason why Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO." - said the ambassador.