Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has announced that, thanks to the legal efforts of the government and parliament, Ukraine is progressing towards European Union membership at the fastest pace ever recorded among candidate countries.

Source: Shmyhal during an hour of questions to the government in the Ukrainian parliament, as reported by European Pravda, citing the Ukrinform news agency

Details: Shmyhal was answering a question from an MP about the legal compatibility of the posts of minister of justice and deputy prime minister.

"There is a large layer of legal work in the area of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. This decision [to combine the positions – ed.] is 100% justified. We, supported by the parliament, are moving forward with all the necessary bills; then the government is implementing all the necessary regulations. We are doing a lot of legal work with the European Commission," he said.

"We've got a fairly high pace in all of this. We have great ambitions to become an EU member as soon as possible. And our pace is the fastest of all the candidate countries that have ever aspired to become an EU member. Therefore, such an integration [of those posts] is justified," the prime minister said.

Shmyhal added that merging the positions of deputy prime minister and justice minister serves as a political demonstration of Ukraine’s priorities. However, he clarified that this decision is consistent with current legislation, the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Law on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Background: 

• In February, Hungary blocked the opening of the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine and promised to block the opening of clusters until it holds "consultations" with the population on Ukraine's accession.
• On 5 March, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced a poll on support for Ukraine's EU membership.
• Meanwhile, the Hungarian government insists that Ukraine's accession to the EU would be dangerous for Hungary, including from an agricultural and economic point of view.

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