European Union leaders have formally accepted Ukraine as a candidate to join the 27-nation bloc, a bold geopolitical movement hailed by Ukraine and the EU itself as a “historic moment.”
Key points:
- Moldova also received EU candidate status with Ukraine
- The decision sets in motion the EU’s most ambitious expansion since it hosted the former Soviet states
- Although the EU started as a six-country organization, it has grown to include 27 nations
While Ukraine and neighboring Moldova could take more than a decade to qualify for membership, the decision of a two-day EU summit is a symbolic step that indicates the bloc’s intention to enter in the former Soviet Union.
“Ukraine will prevail. Europe will prevail. Today marks the beginning of a long journey we will make together,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The unusually quick decision of EU leaders to grant candidate status to Ukraine was provoked by the invasion of Russia.
EU leaders stressed, however, that the bloc will need a major overhaul of its decision-making process before it can be expanded again, and that Ukraine and Moldova will have a lot of “homework” to do.
“I am convinced that they will act as quickly as possible and work as hard as possible to implement the necessary reforms,” European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed the EU’s decision as “a unique and historic moment”, tweeting: “Ukraine’s future is in the EU.”
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“This is a victory,” a smiling Zelenskyy said in a short video posted on his Instagram channel, noting that Ukraine had waited 30 years for that.
“We can defeat the enemy, rebuild Ukraine, join the EU and then rest,” he said.
The measure, which is also granted candidate status in Moldova, begins the EU’s most ambitious expansion since it hosted Eastern European states after the Cold War.
Behind the triumphant rhetoric, however, in the EU is concern about how the bloc can remain coherent as it continues to expand.
After starting in 1951 as a six-country organization to regulate industrial production, the EU now has 27 members facing complex challenges, from climate change and China’s rise, to a war. at their doors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his “special military operation” launched in Ukraine in late February was in part necessary for the Western invasion in what Russia characterizes as its legitimate sphere of geographical influence.
The EU’s green light “is a signal to Moscow that Ukraine, as well as other countries of the former Soviet Union, cannot belong to Russian spheres of influence,” the Ukrainian ambassador told Reuters on Thursday. in the EU Chentsov Vsevolod.
Ukraine’s path to accession could take years
EU candidate status does not automatically entitle you to join the bloc and offers no guarantee of immediate security.
Once a country gains membership, it is covered by a clause in the EU treaty that says that if a member is the victim of an armed aggression, other EU countries are obliged to help him by all means. at your fingertips.
EU membership gives access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital. (ABC News)
The main benefits of joining the EU, however, are economic, as it allows access to a market of 450 million consumers with free movement of labor, goods, services and capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month did not seem to be bothered by Ukraine’s determination to join the EU, saying it is not a military pact and therefore “we have no objections.”
EU leaders also agreed on Thursday to recognize a “European perspective” for another former Soviet republic, Georgia.
European Council President Charles Michel said the EU would be ready to approve its candidate status once the “outstanding priorities” were addressed.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who supports Ukraine’s European aspirations, said on Twitter: “This is a great moment for the unity of Europe and for the defense of its core values. The struggle for freedom continues “.
The adhesion process can be long and tortuous.
Turkey, for example, applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999 and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry.
Only one of the more than 30 “chapters” of negotiations has been completed in subsequent years, and the whole process is stalled as a result of several disputes between the EU and Turkey.
Similarly, several Balkan countries have been trying unsuccessfully to join the EU for many years.
European officials have said Ukraine has already adopted around 70 per cent of EU norms and standards, but have also pointed to corruption and the need for deep political and economic reforms in the country.
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Posted 1 h 1 hour ago Thu, June 23, 2022 at 7:16 PM, updated 20 m ago, 20 minutes ago, Thu, June 23, 2022 at 8:35 PM