The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to accept Ukraine’s application to join the European Union (EU) after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a passionate speech before the body.
Zelensky formally signed an application to join the European Union on an expedited basis on Monday after making repeated to calls to allow his country to join the bloc. Zelensky’s calls have received vocal support from some already in the bloc, including the countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
After nearly a week of fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky gave an impassioned speech in front of the European Parliament that received a standing ovation and “near-unanimous” support from the body’s members to begin the process of joining Ukraine to the bloc. The parliament vote does not grant Ukraine status of an EU-candidate country.