Olaf Scholz: Ukraine must respect human rights to join the EU

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Photo: bild.de

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Ukraine will have to respect human rights in order to join the EU, reports Bild am Sonntag.

Commenting on Ukraine's possible membership of the European Union, Scholz said that all states wishing to join the EU must first comply with the criteria of the rule of law, human rights, democracy and the fight against corruption.

The German Chancellor said that the "strong signal" was that in summer 2022 "we made Moldova and Ukraine candidate countries".

At the same time, he said, "each candidate must meet the necessary criteria to become a member of the European Union – this concerns the rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights and the fight against corruption".

Asked by a journalist whether Ukraine's chances of joining the EU increased because of the war, Olaf Scholz stressed that the conditions for joining the EU are "the same for everyone".

As earlier reported, human rights activist Viktoriya Kokhanovska said that the law on the UOC ban would become a law against every Ukrainian.

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