Mateusz Morawiecki told the media: “It’s a giant step, nobody would have expected it two months ago,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
“I think everyone who follows the political scene in Brussels would agree that it wouldn’t have been possible without Poland,” Morawiecki added.
Morawiecki went on to say: “Today, in our immediate neighbourhood, Russia is making a barbaric assault. To repulse it, Ukraine needs hope and today we gave this hope to Ukraine.”
He said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had joined the EU summit via video link, “thanking us, thanking Poland.”
“I am also very grateful to Ukraine, its president and the whole nation, for defending freedom, for defending sovereignty, for defending territorial integrity, for showing what real European values are,” Morawiecki told reporters.
He later tweeted: "Ukraine has officially been granted EU candidate status. It’s a great day for Europe - a historic moment for European unity and the defence of its values. The fight for Ukraine’s freedom continues!"
Thursday was day 120 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, consilium.europa.eu