European Union ambassadors agreed last Tuesday to request an initial assessment of Ukraine’s chances of joining the bloc. The envoys will request an assessment from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, according to officials who declined to be identified speaking on a confidential matter.
(Read: Can Russia be expelled from the UN Security Council?)
EU leaders are expected to discuss Ukraine’s prospects at a summit in Paris on March 10-11, the officials said. Once the application is received, it will be up to the Commission to determine whether Ukraine is ready to start the accession process, at which point it will present its opinion to the 27 EU Member States.
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Then, the countries will evaluate the judgment of the Commission. The move follows the official submission of the request by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Monday. The membership process requires an arduous set of steps that can take more than a decade.
The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyentold EU lawmakers in Brussels on Tuesday that spoke to Zelensky about membership and that “there is still a long way to go“, adding that no one “can doubt that a people who so bravely uphold our European values belong to our European family.”
The Ukraine lobbying effort has already received strong support from certain member states. In an open letter to the EU, the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia called for an immediate accession path to be opened for Ukraine.
And on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki traveled to Brussels to press von der Leyen on the issue. Zelensky’s request risks antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he highlights his strong push to align Ukraine with Europe and the Western alliance.
But the process is not short. Croatia was the last country to join the bloc and its application process lasted 10 years before it was formally accepted in 2013.
Membership requires the candidate country to adopt established EU legislation and enact reforms, including to its judicial and economic systems, to meet the bloc’s criteria.
Given that the situation in Ukraine is dramatic, the EU could agree to speed up the procedure, according to another official, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.
But there is little chance that the bloc will grant membership to Ukraine soon, the official added. The European Council, which oversees accession procedures, could request an urgent opinion from the Commission, another official said. That usually takes 15 to 18 months, he added.
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