ROME — Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the European Bishops’ Conferences (COMECE), has called on the European Union (E.U.) to accept Ukraine’s application for membership.
The Ukrainian government applied for E.U. membership on February 28 of this year, Cardinal Hollerich notes in his May 9 statement, a request that “deserves a positive and realistic response.”
“Ukraine, but also Moldova, Georgia, and all the other European countries, notably in the region of the Western Balkans, which have made the same request in the past, and have undertaken significant reforms, need a credible accession perspective,” the cardinal declares.
The cardinal’s statement, which also features other reflections on the European Union, was released in the context of the May 9 celebration of “Europe Day.”
This year marks a special anniversary because war is ongoing again in Europe, he observes, a war that “has caused already far too many victims and destruction.”
“Since the beginning of the aggression of Ukraine by Russian forces on 24 February we have been praying and hoping for peace,” he states, adding that the EU and its member states “have offered humanitarian, financial and military support to Ukraine.”
“As perhaps never before since the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Defense community seventy years ago, the political leadership is thinking and discussing about a significantly closer cooperation in defense and security matters,” he adds.
“We note that this has been a priority for a strong majority of citizens for a long time already and we sincerely hope that peace in Europe and the world become less fragile and the use of weapons less frequent through these discussions and subsequent agreements,” the cardinal writes.
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