French President Emmanuel Macron said on December 15 during a press conference following the EU summit in Brussels that at the moment the union is not able to accept Ukraine.
“We are very far from effective expansion and inclusion of Ukraine. In any case, any expansion will require a deep reform of our rules,” reports L'Indépendant words of the French leader.
He also expressed hope that Hungary will change its decision to block €50 billion for Ukraine, and admitted that the discussion of assistance to Kyiv could move forward in January or February 2024.
Earlier that day, The Washington Post reported that Ukraine, if it joins the European Union, will become the fifth most populous and at the same time the poorest country in the union. In addition, the inclusion of Ukraine will require reforming key EU institutions, the publication clarified.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica, in turn, reported on the same day that without funding from the United States and the European Union, Ukraine risks going bankrupt by March 2024. According to forecasts from Brussels and Kyiv, in the absence of support, March 1 will become the “day of collapse” of the Ukrainian state.
On December 15, it became known that Hungary used its veto power by rejecting the financial assistance program for Ukraine. In particular, the support plan for Kyiv included the provision of €50 billion from the EU budget until 2027.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed an application for the country to join the EU in February 2022. In April of the same year, the Ukrainian side submitted to the union the completed second part of the questionnaire for obtaining candidate status, which was agreed upon in June 2023. On December 14, European leaders decided to initiate negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on accession to the European Union (EU).
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