KYIV, June 9 - Ukraine’s religious leaders and prominent citizens called on European lawmakers on Thursday to approve the country’s application for obtaining the status of EU candidate, the first step in becoming a member of the European Union.

It usually takes years for a country to obtain such status, but the EU may fast track Ukraine’s application as the country has been fighting off a full-scale invasion by Russia since February 24.

Ukraine has been enjoying an unprecedented wave of support from European countries, which includes supplies of weapons and helping to accommodate millions of Ukrainian refugees scattered across Europe.

However, there is some opposition within the EU, likely from France and Germany, to granting the status to Ukraine. The Ukrainian leaders hope that public appeal might help push towards the positive political decision.

The fact that Ukraine has embarked on the path of obtaining EU candidate status is a historic opportunity and should be seized,” Liubov Akulenko, executive director of the Ukrainian Centre for European Policy, said in a statement. "Ukraine's path to the EU is the transformation of the country into a truly European democracy, in which corruption has been overcome and European standards and practices have been introduced.”

The Ukrainian Centre for European Policy, a Kyiv-based think tank, has taken the initiative to draft the letter appealing to the European lawmakers in support of the Ukrainian EU candidacy.

The appeal was signed by the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk); the Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Epiphanius (Dumenko); Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, President of the Association of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine Jacob Dov Bleich and Head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, Supreme Mufti of Ukraine Ahmed Tamim among others.

This step will manifest the European community's support of Ukraine in the war with the aggressor country Russia and will significantly strengthen its capacity for resistance,” the leaders said in the letter. “In the post-war period, it will stimulate Ukrainians to take the necessary steps to achieve integration and create an institutional basis for economic reconstruction.”

At the same time, the EU will gain a candidate who, with its energy, convictions, and values, will rejuvenate the entire EU project,” the leaders said. (nt/ez)