The Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanyshina said that Ukraine is glad to join the EU together with Moldova and is interested in the countries moving at the same pace.

 She said this in an interview with "European Truth".

 According to her, in Kyiv, the issue of Ukraine's and Moldova's accession to the EU was never considered as interconnected, but such package decisions are a tradition for the European Union.

 "It is a pity that Georgia did not become part of this trio of enlargement. But it is important for us that the decision, which concerns only Ukraine and Moldova, is also a very important geopolitical decision, which becomes an element of security and predictability in the entire region. Therefore, we are very interested in so that Moldova follows Ukraine at the same pace as we follow," the vice-prime minister noted.

 She is convinced that Moldova will not "slow down" Ukraine's movement in the EU (as happened to Moldova during Yanukovych's presidency, when it was hindered by Ukraine's slow down), and Ukraine, for its part, is not going to slow down.

 When asked whether both countries will join the EU at the same time, Stefanyshyn answered that Ukraine "will be happy if Moldova is with us."

 In her opinion, one of the key reasons why the EU refrained from granting Georgia candidate status was doubts about the certainty and irreversibility of its European integration course - at the level of public opinion and the government.

 In the case of Ukraine, Stefanyshyn notes, the answer was unequivocal: citizens' support for EU membership amounted to 91% at the time of consideration of the issue, and the course of European integration since 2014 remained unchanged and enshrined in the Constitution.

 "On the issues of Moldova and Georgia, perhaps these issues needed to be evaluated and there was no certainty that in the future countries like Georgia would be as predictable in terms of their European aspirations. I think that was of exceptional importance." .. I am sure that the citizens of Georgia are definitely not changing their position, but they are hostages of certain political processes," the vice-prime minister noted.

 She expressed fears that significant reformist achievements of Georgia in the past could be destroyed by certain political conflicts within the state. "We are very sorry to observe this situation. But we also understand that those countries that want to be in the same basket with Ukraine must meet the high standards that Ukraine meets," added Olga Stefanyshyn.

 The Deputy Prime Minister also noted that Ukraine does not want to join the "Balkan" EU enlargement package.