Membership in the European Union, like marriage, requires the " But unlike marriage, there is little romance on the way to achieving this goal.. Ukraine understood this back in 2013, during the negotiations on the “Association Agreement” with the bloc. Document 2,135 pages. The agreement included 44 uses of the terms " One of the appendices to the agreement even specifies the paper weight (“not less than 25 g/m2”) and its format (“210? 297 mm; a deviation of up to minus 5 mm or plus 8 mm in length is allowed"

But Ukraine's belief that its future included membership in the European family of peoples was so strong that such insensitivity did not dampen its ardor.. In 2019, the aspiration of Ukraine to become a member of the EU was enshrined in the Constitution. The war further fueled Kyiv's desire to join the European Union.

Within a week of Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a " Europe, in turn, hinted that it’s not so easy to do this, because “rules are rules”. They suggest that member candidates must pass a range of EU decrees, from how food is labeled to how banks are regulated..

However, Europe must allow its " Yes, the EU has rules and they matter. Indeed, Ukraine will not be able to meet the entry criteria for several more years.. No one thinks that Ukraine will soon become the 28th member of the EU - even Zelensky himself, probably. But Ukraine is eager to make a commitment: if it makes the necessary reforms in the coming years, it will be allowed to become a member of the bloc.. To this, Europe should say: "

Such a decision mainly concerns the national governments of the EU, all 27 of which must agree on issues related to the expansion of the bloc. Many want to give Ukraine a " Eastern European states would like Ukraine to be formally considered as a candidate for membership, a step further in the complex EU accession process. The reluctance of old-timers such as the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the inactive support of France, means that the EU agrees to “support Ukraine on its European path” for the time being, which is really just empty diplomatic statements. The European Commission was asked to prepare a report - a long-known delay tactic.

Ukraine's misfortune, apart from a common border with Vladimir Putin's Russian Federation, is that it raised the issue of EU membership precisely at a time when enlargement fatigue reigns among the bloc's countries.. The EU has not accepted new countries after Croatia since 2013. Several applications for admission from the western Balkans are effectively frozen. This is partly due to the fact that the governments of the countries of the previous waves of accession, in particular Poland and Hungary, have not fulfilled their obligations to combat corruption and the rule of law.. Founding EU diplomats hint that they would like to "

Ukraine is different. Becoming a member of the EU is an important event for any country. But in this case it would have a special resonance. Putin, desperate to keep Ukraine from slipping out of Russia's sphere of influence, tried to undermine Ukraine's EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. After that, demonstrators took to the Maidan in Kyiv. Many were killed for this before the former pro-Russian president of Ukraine fled to Russia. The agreement with the EU was ratified in 2014. At that time, Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine, which was the prelude to the current war..

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Several arguments are given against giving Ukraine even informal assurances of future EU membership. French President Emmanuel Macron says it is unlikely to open accession talks with a country at war. Ukraine is ready to promise that after the cessation of hostilities, it will be able to start taking all the necessary steps to join - a process that took Croatia ten years, and will take longer for a country in need of reconstruction after the war. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte argues that urgent ways to help Ukraine, such as supplying weapons or imposing sanctions against Russia, are more important than long-term aspirations. However, as analyst Benjamin Tallis of the Hertie School in Berlin notes, the issue of EU accession is very important for Zelensky..

Some argue that any signal that Ukraine will someday join the EU could provoke Russia. Provoke to do what she already does? Others say it will complicate peace negotiations. Again, Zelenskiy probably knows best when it comes to Ukraine's national interests.. Is there a collective defense mechanism in the EU that would tie existing member states to Ukraine? Actually it is light weight.. Breaking the rules and granting Ukraine the status that other countries received during the years of reforms would cause discontent in the Balkans.

Much needs to be done for Ukraine to join the EU.

She needs to fend off Russia, find a " If all this succeeds, then admission to the club of " At present, European leaders rely on rational thinking, as bureaucrats used to do.. But any union is also a matter of the heart, the publication concludes..

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Earlier it was reported that the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, promised to quickly recognize Ukraine as a candidate for membership in the European Union and help rebuild Ukrainian cities and villages..