A surprise visit but not a coincidence. Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Kyiv for the second time since the start of the conflict, as the 27 must decide by the end of the month whether Ukraine can be an official candidate for entry into the EU . “I am back in kyiv (…) We will take stock of the joint work necessary for reconstruction and the progress made by Ukraine on the road to Europe,” she told journalists at her meeting. arrival.
After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, she promised a response “next week” to Ukraine’s ambitions. “Today’s discussions will allow us to finalize our assessment by the end of next week”, she added, stressing that the Ukrainian authorities have “done a lot” with a view to a candidacy, but that there is “still a lot to do”, especially in the fight against corruption.
The 27 still very divided
“We want to support Ukraine on its European journey,” she added, saying on Twitter that “Ukraine, a solid parliamentary democracy, was already on the right track before the Russian invasion”. The head of the European Commission has yet to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal for this visit to kyiv, her second since the start of the war, the previous one having taken place on April 8.
Ukraine is demanding a concrete “legal commitment” by the end of June from the Europeans to obtain official candidate status for entry into the EU, but the 27 remain at this stage very divided on the question. While many countries, mainly in Eastern Europe, support Ukraine’s membership, some like the Netherlands or Denmark, but also Germany and France, which chairs the EU until the end of June , are more reserved.
And even if Ukraine is granted ‘candidate status’, it will start a process of negotiations and potential reforms that could take years, if not decades, before it is on the verge of joining the EU. . Several EU states have thus dampened kyiv’s hopes of an “accelerated” process. Currently, five countries are officially candidates (Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey). Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo also submitted an application without the accession process having started, as did Georgia and Moldova after the start of the Russian invasion.