Placeholder while loading article actions
BRUSSELS – European Union leaders agreed on Thursday that Ukraine should be a candidate for membership in the bloc, a symbolic victory for Kyiv amid war with Russia and another sign of how the conflict is reshaping the world.
Candidate status does not confer membership status, which could still be in decades. But the decision is a historic step for Europe and sends a signal to Moscow.
The heads of state and government, meeting in Brussels for a two-day European Council summit, also agreed on Moldova’s candidacy. Ukraine and Moldova will have to meet certain conditions as candidates to advance. Leaders said Georgia will become a candidate after meeting other conditions.
“This is a decisive moment and a very good day for Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels. “Strengthens Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in the face of Russian aggression and strengthens the European Union.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the news. “I sincerely commend the decision of the EU leaders,” he tweeted.
The Kremlin claims that Ukraine, a sovereign state, it is not a real country and wants to introduce it by force into the sphere of influence of Moscow. Vsevolod Chentsov, the head of Ukraine’s mission to the EU, said that a path to membership in the bloc sends the message that Ukraine is a very real country with a future to choose from.
For Ukrainians exhausted by months of struggle, EU candidate status is a “gesture of confidence,” Chentsov said this week, and an indication that “the EU believes Ukraine can do this.”
The EU has granted Ukraine candidate status. That is what it means.
Leaders, diplomats and officials expressed surprise that member states could finally reach an agreement on Ukraine, as well as Moldova and Georgia, after years of debate and stagnation.
“Just a few months ago, I was very skeptical that we would get this position,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Thursday. “I’m so glad we’re there.”
An EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private talks, said the bloc’s leaders had advanced more on enlargement in the last two weeks “than in the last 25 years”.
The decision comes at a difficult time for Ukraine. Russian forces have made more gains south of the eastern city of Lysychansk, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, prompting defense forces to reposition themselves to avoid being surrounded.
The fall of the settlements of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka followed the Russian takeover of the strategic village of Toshkivka earlier in the week. Much of the battered twin city of Lisychansk, Severodonetsk, is under Russian control while Moscow seeks to occupy the entire Luhansk province.
Ukraine’s defense minister said Thursday that the country received a batch of M142 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, commonly known as HIMARS, from the United States. The weapons will allow Ukrainian forces to launch multiple rockets at Russian artillery and forces quickly and accurately, according to U.S. officials.
The news from Brussels offered a boost in morale for the Ukrainians. “Ukraine will prevail. Europe will prevail,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video message.
“Today marks the start of a long journey we will make together,” he continued. “The Ukrainian people belong to the European family. Ukraine’s future lies with the EU. “
Ukraine has long sought to join the EU. Days after the war, Zelensky advocated an accelerated path to accession, presenting the candidacy as a matter of survival. While the Baltic states and other Eastern European countries supported the idea, many member states rejected it.
During the spring, the leaders of these countries seemed happy to put up with Zelensky, but hesitated to offer Ukraine a path to accession.
“None of the 27 would say correctly in front of the president ‘no’,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Washington Post during a June 9 visit to Brussels. “But what is happening behind the scenes is a clear will to put obstacles in the way.”
Zelensky pressured EU leaders to do more. Granting candidate status in Ukraine “would prove that the words about the longing of the Ukrainian people to be part of the European family are not just words,” he said in a June 10 speech. The next day, von der Leyen paid a surprise visit to Kyiv to finalize his assessment of the country’s candidacy.
What is NATO and why is Ukraine not a member?
While von der Leyen continued to promote Ukraine’s readiness, Ukrainian diplomats toured European capitals to keep up the pressure. Some resistance began, distrustful of being considered to stand in the way of Ukraine. to minimize his earlier skepticism.
Last week, leaders from Germany, France and Italy visited Kyiv and expressed support for Ukraine’s candidacy. The next day, the committee recommended candidate status. Earlier this week, EU diplomats called it a “done deal”.
But diplomats themselves warn that there is a long way to go. The commission set six steps for Ukraine to meet before it can move forward. Among them: the application of laws to ensure the selection of qualified judges; limiting the influence of oligarchs; and improve its trajectory in investigations, prosecutions and convictions for corruption.
With the fighting in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials acknowledge that it will be difficult to move forward with some reforms. “Inevitably, there will be issues that should be addressed after the shooting stops,” Chentsov said.
The challenges are not limited to Ukraine. Although EU nations have decided to pave the way for accession to three countries, the appetite for enlargement remains modest. Member States, having made a symbolic gesture, could now look for ways to slow things down.
Turkey ran in 1987 and remains a candidate. Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia have been in EU accession talks for years.
Europe is concentrated behind Ukraine. But fatigue is just around the corner.
A draft of the summit’s conclusions obtained by The Washington Post suggests that membership in Ukraine could depend on the bloc’s “ability” “to absorb new members.” Some want to review EU decision-making before letting newcomers in.
If Ukraine joined now, it would become the fifth most populous member state and by far the poorest. Ukraine’s gross domestic product per capita last year was $ 4,872, less than half the current poorest member, Bulgaria, at $ 11,683, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.
Some countries, especially in Western Europe, remain concerned that a major new member may further complicate decision-making and tip the balance of power towards Central and Eastern Europe.
Leaders were scheduled to meet again on Friday to discuss the effect of the Russian war on the economy. Germany on Thursday raised the country’s alert level under its emergency gas plan while Russia limited deliveries to Europe.
World leaders, including President Biden, are scheduled to meet in Madrid next week for a NATO summit focused on the war in Ukraine and the future of the alliance.