“Four Years Ago Today, Ukraine Took a Historic Step Towards the European Union” – Statement by EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Maternova on Ukraine’s Application for EU Membership
Four years ago, Ukraine did something that even seasoned diplomats did not expect.
Just four days after the full-scale invasion began, the country formally applied to join the European Union.
It was President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, together with Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who signed and submitted the application — from a bunker in the Presidential Quarter on Bankova Street in Kyiv.
The capital was under attack. Russian forces were advancing. The outcome was far from certain.
And yet, in that moment, Ukraine was not only fighting for survival. It was making a strategic choice about its future.
At first, many of us were surprised.
But when one reflects on Ukraine’s recent history, it made perfect sense.
The desire to belong to Europe did not begin in 2022. It was already visible in 2013–2014, when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians stood in the cold at Maidan Nezalezhnosti during the Revolution of Dignity. They were defending a choice of values — rule of law, dignity, and freedom. Many paid for that choice with their lives.
I remember those days well.
Working on enlargement policy in Brussels, Ukraine was already part of my professional life. Since September 2023, it has also been my home in a much more personal way.
So when, in February 2022, Ukraine sent its membership application from a shelter, it was more than a political act. It was an expression of identity. Even under bombardment, Ukraine chose Europe.
The European Union responded. Candidate status was granted only months later. Since then, Ukraine has accelerated reforms while defending itself — in the judiciary, anti-corruption institutions, public administration, and energy resilience. Progress achieved during a full-scale war that many countries struggle to accomplish in times of peace.
Support for EU membership remains one of the strongest sources of motivation for Ukrainians. Recent visits of EU leaders to Kyiv have confirmed this again.
For more than a decade, I have followed Ukraine’s European journey — first from Brussels, now from Kyiv.
Four years ago, I witnessed something I will never forget: a country under bombardment thinking not only about how to survive the night — but about where it wanted to belong for generations to come.
That choice still defines Ukraine today.