The president of the EU commission is impressed by Kyiv’s “progress” on joining the bloc, but senior officials maintain that the journey will not be short. Ukraine applied to join the EU just four days after the Russian invasion, almost a year ago. Candidate status was granted by Brussels officials around a month later, though any future steps could take years.
The rhetoric around Ukraine’s accession to the EU remains warm. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week told the European Parliament that she understands Volodymyr Zelensky’s “firm conviction that the future of their country and of their children lies in the European Union.” She added:
Rebuilding Ukraine and its progress on the path towards our Union go hand in hand. You have heard it from President Zelensky in this hemicycle. I have seen it with my College [of Commissioners] in Kyiv. And colleagues at the Commission confirm it every day: Ukrainians are making tangible progress—while fighting a war. … Ukraine is a nation defined not only by its history and heritage. It is a nation defined by its dreams. And Europe is one of these dreams.
Mrs. von der Leyen’s remarks come around 10 months after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Ukraine’s accession to the bloc will “take several years indeed, probably several decades” [Emphasis added]. This, he added, was “the truth, unless we decide to lower the standards for accession.” Officials view corruption as a particular block to entry, even if the issue has received less attention in the Western press since February last year (until, perhaps, earlier this month). Even on this point, the EU chief argued that steps were being taken in the right direction. She said:
They know that accession to our Union is a merits-based process. They have passed legislative reforms that others thought would take years. They are making this progress because they are striving for Europe with all their heart and soul.
But here, too, the words seem more positive than the action—on Brussels’ side, if not Kyiv’s. A statement drafted by EU officials earlier this month gave Politico journalists the impression that Brussels will “pour cold water on Ukraine’s hopes that it could swiftly join” the bloc. The paper noted that “the document offers only vague assurances about moving the process forward once all EU-mandated milestones are met.”
After this paper was revealed, Mr. Zelensky pressed EU leaders on advancing his country’s accession. Some member states, including Poland, are all in favour of Ukraine being allowed a fast-tracked entrance into the bloc. Others, including France and the Netherlands, remain unconvinced.
