President of the European Commission Romano Prodi stated in Dublin that Ukraine has no prospect of ever becoming a member of the European Union.

This was reported on Monday by the British newspaper "Financial Times."

Romano Prodi's statement in the Irish capital regarding the expansion of the European Union to the East is discouraging for Ukraine. Prodi said that there is practically no room left in the EU.

According to him, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey will still be admitted to the EU, as well as Western Balkan countries such as Serbia and Croatia. However, even this is a matter of the not-so-near future.

As for Ukraine and Belarus, they have no prospects for EU membership, said the president of the European Commission. Instead, he envisioned the creation of a so-called "circle of friends" of the EU.

According to Prodi, this is a kind of cooperation zone that will stretch from the Baltic Sea through the Middle East to North Africa. The EU will cooperate intensively with the countries of this zone in the economy, as well as in the field of immigration.

Prodi especially emphasized that "friends of the EU" will not have their own representation either in the European Parliament or in the European Commission.

It remains unknown to what extent the opinion of the president of the European Commission, who is leaving this post in October, reflects the mood at the top of the EU, reports "Deutsche Welle."

Meanwhile, President Leonid Kuchma sent congratulatory telegrams to the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Lithuania on the occasion of their acquisition of full membership in the EU.

Kuchma said that "Ukraine has always welcomed the process of EU expansion as a logical and integral component of strengthening pan-European values, spreading across the European continent the space of stability, security, prosperity, and democracy."

"At the same time, we are convinced that the large-scale project called 'United Europe,' which is being implemented today, will not have a logical completion without Ukraine," he added.

Kuchma said that elevating relations between Ukraine and the EU from partnership to the level of association "would best correspond to the interests of both Ukraine and the European Union."

Kuchma explained that in this he counts on the assistance of the 10 new EU members, reports the president's press service.