Zelensky arrives in Ireland as country's EU presidency begins
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President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Ireland on July 1 to attend the country's opening ceremony of its six-month presidency of the Council of the EU.
Zelensky was welcomed at Baldonnel Aerodrome near Dublin by Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris, before meeting Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at the Dublin Castle.
"Every day, Ukraine proves that it deserves to be an equal part of our shared European home," Zelensky said on X.
"And we hope that during Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union, we will be able to achieve tangible progress on the path to membership and open all negotiating clusters."
Zelensky is also scheduled to meet European Council President Antonio Costa.
Ireland takes over the rotating EU presidency from Cyprus, whose chairmanship oversaw the launch of the first negotiations cluster with Kyiv and the final approval of the 90-billion-euro ($102-billion) Ukraine Support Loan.
Ukraine hopes to open the remaining five accession clusters as early as July to swiftly advance membership talks.
Martin said in a statement that supporting Ukraine would remain an "important priority" for the Irish presidency, calling the country "part of our European family."
