EU candidate status for Ukraine seems decided Polish FM says

It seems that granting the status of EU candidate country to Ukraine is a foregone conclusion, Poland's head of diplomacy said in Luxembourg after the meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday.

"The result of the discussion about Ukraine's candidate status is that it is difficult to assume that Ukraine will not be granted this status," Zbigniew Rau said.

"There was indeed agreement on that... so this is the end of the discussion whether Ukraine will belong to the European Union or not," he added.

According to Rau, the agreement "means... that the European community treats Ukraine as a fully-fledged partner and opens up the so-called EU perspective."

He said that, "in this special situation, in which no other candidate for the European Union has been found so far, it is an extremely important thing for Ukraine, morally, politically and emotionally."

Rau also said that the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine means that the whole of continental Europe believes the country's place "is not with Russia or the current regime in Belarus" and that Ukrainians are "Europeans on a par with the French, Austrians and Poles."