Portugal issues strong warning to EU over Ukraine membership 

Portugal has issued a very serious warning to the European over the debate on whether to grant Ukraine candidacy status in the EU.

Portugal Prime Minister, Antonio Costa warned that such debate could divide the bloc and create “false expectations.”

According to him, the division in the EU over the debate would be a gift to Russia.

Financial Times reports quoted Costa as saying that he did not oppose Ukraine’s candidacy explicitly but maintained that his country’s priority was “clear and immediate support,” for Ukraine instead.

He said that this was not the time to open a years-long negotiation, adding, “The great risk is to create false expectations that become bitter disappointment. Less legal debates, more practical solutions,” he said

“The best support that the European Union can give to Ukraine is to keep its unity,” António Costa told the Financial Times in an interview. “The best we can offer is European unity.

“My focus is to obtain in the next European Council a clear commitment on the urgent support and to build a long-term platform to support the recovery of Ukraine,” Costa told the FT.

“This is my main priority. The most important is not legal debates about Ukraine but practical deliveries,” he added.