Today, the European Union flag was raised for the first time in the hall of the Ukrainian parliament, after Ukraine became a candidate for membership in the bloc.

The video of this symbolic act was published by the head of the EU delegation in Ukraine, Matti Maasikas.

Ukraine has a clear European perspective, said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a speech before the Ukrainian parliament.

"Ukraine now has a very clear European perspective.

Ukraine is a candidate country to join the European Union, which just five months ago seemed almost unthinkable," Von der Leyen said in a speech via video link.

Moving to tears – the EU flag has been brought to the plenary hall of @ua_parliament.

To stay.

pic.twitter.com/qkZxfwjF7O

— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) July 1, 2022

This represents the victory of the movement that began eight years ago on the Maidan, Von der Leyen added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine's path to membership in the European Union should not "take years or decades" and vowed to make his part of the process "perfect".

"Today, together with the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Prime Minister, we are signing a joint statement, which is a signal of the unity of all branches of government and proof of our determination to achieve Ukraine's strategic goal of membership full in the European Union.

And signing this statement should mean the same as signing a membership request on the fifth day of the war," he asserted.

"We ran for 115 days.

And our path to membership should not take years or decades.

We must overcome this road quickly.

Make our part of the job perfect.

To enable our friends in the European Union to make another historic decision for us just as quickly and in a consolidated manner," concluded Zelensky.

Otherwise, Ukraine has received the status of a candidate to join the European Union a few days ago.

/Telegraph/

Thank you President @ZelenskyyUA for inviting me to address this special session of @ua_parliament.

Ukrainians are fighting back bravely.

Europe will do everything in our power to help Ukraine win this war.

And we will not rest until you prevail.


https://t.co/fQgNeN9ryy

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 1, 2022