EU, Ukraine together on Europe Day, but Kyiv remains outside

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union marks its annual Europe Day celebration of peace and unity with Ukraine anxiously looking in from the wings. Ukraine wants to badly join the 27-nation bloc to anchor its future in the Western world. Next month, it will be one year since the existing members made Ukraine a candidate for membership. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a special trip to Kyiv on Tuesday to deliver warm words about the the bloc and Ukraine’s common destiny to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Yet frustration on the Ukrainian side is eviden because the beginning of membership negotiations is still out of sight.