Russia’s war of aggression has pushed Ukraine closer to the EU. But is it enough for a status as an EU candidate?
During a visit to Kyiv, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that she would complete the analysis of Ukraine’s EU membership application by the end of next week.
During talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, she praised the well-functioning administration. At the same time, she warned of the need for further action: Despite considerable progress in strengthening the law, Ukraine still has to implement reforms, for example in the fight against corruption. In principle, von der Leyen acknowledged Ukraine’s “enormous efforts and determination” on the way to the EU.
Zelensky: “Ukraine has already made a big contribution”
In March, shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, Ukraine submitted an application for acceptance into the EU. The EU states then instructed the EU Commission to make a recommendation as to whether Ukraine should be given the status of a candidate country. For Ukraine, the path to the EU is of crucial importance, as President Zelenskiy reiterated on Saturday.
“The Ukrainian people have already made a huge contribution in defending common freedom and common values,” he said. “A positive response from the European Union to Ukraine’s application for EU membership can be a positive answer to the question of whether there is any future for the European project at all.” Zelensky stressed that Ukrainians are aware that candidate status is only the beginning of the European path.
How do the EU countries view the ambitions?
Von der Leyen left open on Saturday what kind of recommendation your authority will make next week. It is possible that she is in favor of unrestricted candidate status. However, the status of a potential accession candidate or a postponement of the decision would also be conceivable. Based on the recommendation, the EU states must then unanimously decide how to proceed. This is to happen at an EU summit on June 23rd and 24th.
The views of the EU states have so far diverged widely, although the decision on candidate status does not anticipate the admission decision and is also not linked to a time frame. For example, Turkey has been an EU accession candidate since 1999.
States such as Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, as well as Italy and Ireland, are strongly in favor of making Ukraine a candidate for the EU as quickly as possible. This is “an important political message that we have to send as soon as possible,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Tuesday after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. France, the Netherlands and Denmark, on the other hand, are skeptical.
So far it is unclear how Germany will position itself. While members of the government such as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) are clearly in favor of Ukraine’s candidate status, Chancellor Scholz has not made any clear statements to date. He merely emphasized that he would not accept any special rules for Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession. The SPD politician also pointed out that this was not fair to the six countries in the Western Balkans, which are also hoping to join the EU.
And Austria?
In any case, Austria is pushing for the start of accession negotiations with the Western Balkan countries. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) described it as a “condition” that if Ukraine was granted candidate status, “the same applies to the states of the Western Balkans and to the Republic of Moldova,” Nehammer said in a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas Friday.
Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania are EU accession candidates. Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina are still waiting for this status. The rapprochement has been stagnating for years, Scholz wants to create a new dynamic. For North Macedonia, on a trip to the Balkans on Saturday, he called for the immediate start of EU accession negotiations, which have so far been blocked by Bulgaria.
Von der Leyen visited injured soldiers
The trip by the EU Commission chief was her second visit to Ukraine since the war began on February 24. It was not publicly announced in advance for security reasons. Like the first time, it took twelve hours by train from southern Poland to Kyiv.
The talks also included the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine. Von der Leyen emphasized that reforms and investments from abroad must go hand in hand. A visit to a hospital and a walk across the central Maidan Square were also part of the program. In April, von der Leyen visited the Kiev suburb of Butscha, where war crimes had recently become public. She also presented Selensky with the questionnaire that is used to assess her agency’s EU ambitions.
Zelensky calls for another package of sanctions
The EU has already decided on six packages of sanctions against Russia – Selensky demanded number seven on Saturday. According to his will, this should affect all Russian officials and judges who support the war. All Russian banks should be sanctioned without exception. “The European Union must work more quickly on a complete abandonment of all Russian energy sources,” emphasized the 44-year-old. However, von der Leyen had already made it clear that no major sanctions packages were pending for the time being. Instead, work should be done to close loopholes and combat the circumvention of sanctions.
(APA/dpa)