(Bloomberg) -- Portugal is actively lobbying for Ukraine to join the European Union and wants the bloc to begin preparing for its eventual inclusion.
“We are very engaged in the enlargement process,” Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said in an interview on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum, a conference held on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy.
“We need to prepare to receive Ukraine in the EU when that’s possible,” he added. That process “will require a financial and institutional reform that we should take care of immediately.”
The annual conference is a draw for prominent world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this year. This current gathering also comes after Russia escalated its attacks following an incursion by Ukrainian troops.
“Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has clearly changed the perception of the balance of the war,” Rangel said, while calling for negotiations toward a peace process. Earlier in the year, he said the EU should stay committed to its policy that any talks about ending the conflict should be led by the government in Kyiv.
At the same event, Zelenskiy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed to work toward a conference next year, focused on the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, even as a cease-fire with Russia remains elusive.
--With assistance from Joao Lima.
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