Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

People have been struck by the pace of Ukrainian reforms. In particular, the Commission has been very struck by the speed and degree to which Ukraine has gotten its act together in respect of many of the areas that had been identified by the Commission as requiring reform. Overall, I have a geopolitical view - I have been one of the strongest advocates earlier on at European Council meetings and as Taoiseach - that we should make sure we push strongly for Ukrainian accession to the European Union. The geopolitical issues piece is important because vacuums develop in states. Too many countries have been left hanging out there for far too long, such as North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and others which have made significant reforms. Very often what happens is the supportive population becomes less supportive as accession has not progressed. Ideally, we would favour changes within the existing treaty in terms of how the Union works in the context of enlargement. It would be more effective and efficient to do it that way but others are not ruling out treaty change.

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