The EU summit will be held in Brussels in the upcoming days. It is particularly important for Ukraine because it can be used to resolve a civilizational, worldview question: should our state be where it deserves to be – in the European family.

The event that millions were waiting for happened recently: the European Commission announced its decision, recommending that Ukraine shall be granted the EU candidate status. Explaining her decision, the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, said that, “Ukraine has very clearly proven its compliance with European principles.”

I’m really happy about this decision and have a few thoughts about it.

First of all, this decision is unprecedented because usually the EU is very careful in such matters when it comes to countries with problematic territories. And even more so – those where open war is going on. However, more and more Western leaders have come to understand that by protecting our own borders, we are also standing guard over the security of the entire European region. Therefore, Europe needs a free, developed, well-protected Ukraine.

Secondly, the consistency of Ukrainian leaders who did not allow themselves to be drawn into the so-called ‘compromise options’ is worthy of respect. Let me remind you that during the discussion of the future of Ukraine in the EU, the leaders of France and Germany made proposals to create a certain ‘creative option’ for Ukraine – to grant the status of a ‘potential candidate’ or to create some alternative format of European cooperation, of which Ukraine would become a member. My position, which coincides with the point of view of millions of my compatriots, is that Ukraine will be satisfied only with full membership in the European Union. Fortunately, the Ukrainian authorities are of the same opinion.

Thirdly, it would be a big mistake to think that Ukraine received the status of a candidate ‘in advance’ or ‘backhanded’ exclusively because of the war. As if it weren’t for russia’s aggression, we would have been waiting for this status for decades. Of course, the full-scale russian invasion accelerated certain bureaucratic processes within the European Union. The EU, especially its oldest members – the countries of Western Europe – are guilty of indecision and delaying processes when making key decisions, and the unprecedented russian aggression became a certain catalyst. But granting Ukraine a candidate status is neither a gift nor a favour: we earned membership in the EU because we consistently went to it, doing our homework and bringing our standards closer to the European ones.

We cannot underestimate the previous work carried out by our partners – the Baltic states and, especially, Poland, convincing the leaders of other EU member states of the need to open the door to Ukraine. There can be no doubt that Poland will continue to act as a sincere advocate of Ukraine on the way to European integration. The way the Poles showed themselves during the war – on all fronts – shows that, in addition to economic and geopolitical interests, there are also ordinary human feelings, true friendship and brotherly love.

Undoubtedly, it is too early for us to rejoice and rest on our laurels: serious, painstaking preparatory work lies ahead. After all, granting Ukraine the status of a candidate, Brussels clearly stated: in order to fully obtain the membership, our country still needs to work. In order to prove to Europe that we are serious, we need to carry out thorough reforms in several areas of our life. In particular, to put the judicial system in order, reformat the Constitutional Court, take a number of steps to combat corruption and money laundering, tame the oligarchs, and harmonise with the European legislation that part of the legislation that we have not got around to yet – in particular, on national minorities.

I really hope that on 23-24 June at the EU summit the decision, that millions of Ukrainians are waiting for, will be made. Of course, this does not mean that Ukraine will become a full member of the European Union the very next day. However, this will be the start of a difficult but extremely exciting work, which will end with the acquisition of the dream membership. And how quickly this will happen largely depends on Ukraine.

Hryhoriy Kozlovskyy, a businessman, president of the “Ruh” football club (Lviv).