Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas made the announcement ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, Suspilne reported. He stated that establishing a clear date would encourage Ukraine to accelerate its progress toward membership.
“Lithuania is proposing a target date for Ukraine’s potential EU membership: Jan. 1, 2030. This will motivate Ukrainians to move faster,” he said.
Paluckas also stressed the need for the EU to ramp up sanctions against Russia, particularly through the 17th sanctions package, which includes restrictions on Russian banks and imports of liquefied natural gas.
Additionally, he called for stronger European support for Ukraine and emphasized the importance of building a reliable security barrier between Europe and Russia.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo echoed this sentiment, stating that Ukraine should become part of the EU “as soon as possible, but no later than 2030,” Politico reported.
“They genuinely want to be members of the European Union. They want to be one of us. Of course, it must be merit-based, but this is a very important message for Ukrainians,” Orpo said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Hungary remains the only country blocking Ukraine’s accession to the EU.