Austria calls for rethinking the EU accession process

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the war in Ukraine should prompt a rethink of the EU accession process.
He told the Financial Times that the bloc should consider giving countries such as Ukraine and Moldova the possibility of rapid accession to “parts of the common market” and certain European institutions, as a transitional process towards full membership.
This will also include participation in formal decision-making entities.
“The enlargement of the European Union is not a legal and bureaucratic direction, but a geo-strategic tool,” he said in the interview published today.
He added that countries such as Albania, North Macedonia and Moldova should be viewed as equals to Ukraine when it comes to EU membership ambitions.
“We have to include them all in Europe and in the West,” he stressed.