At a European Union summit, European leaders granted Ukraine the status of a European Union candidate and in doing so sent a message of their ongoing support for Ukraine in its resistance against Russian invaders and optimism for Ukraine’s future. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and a former Belgian Prime Minister, announced the news on Twitter.
Consequently, the council — which is comprised of the heads of state of all EU member countries — also approved candidate status for Moldova, a territory that Russia also is aiming to subjugate. Neither country will be part of the EU at this time. EU officials want both countries to alter their justice systems and better combat corruption, as well as address the various requirements of the bloc, before even starting the process.
Negotiations are very unlikely to happen soon. But obtaining a candidacy boost is likely to buoy Ukrainian morale during difficult fighting in the country’s east, and analysts say the move should facilitate Ukrainian activists’ complicated domestic reforms.
The day after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, the country applied to join the EU. Top Ukrainians, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and their international supporters have spent months promoting the idea of membership for Kyiv and achieved European support in a very short time considering the difficulty of getting the support of all the EU members. Earlier this week, the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, recommended Ukraine be granted candidacy status, and even though many EU states are close to Russia, including Hungary, they haven’t sought to block the plan.
Putin said Ukraine’s ties to the West were a major motivating factor for the Russian invasion, but he added that he had no qualms about Ukraine becoming an EU member. Zelenskyy also warned of possible retaliation, such as Russia launching more assaults on Ukrainian targets.
Despite a mutual defense clause in the EU, many governments see it as far weaker than the joint defense agreement in the NATO military alliance. This is one reason Sweden and Finland rushed to join NATO after Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
Moving toward membership in the EU could be a boon for Ukraine. Symbolically, it would demonstrate Kyiv’s independence from Russia, where Putin and his allies have questioned the separation of Ukrainians from Russians. And, economically, establishing closer ties with the EU would make Ukraine more attractive to investors, while accession to the union would offer major developmental grants to Ukraine.
“Sincerely commend EU leaders’ decision… it’s a unique and historical moment,” Zelenksyy wrote on Twitter after the news broke.
Some other countries also applying for EU membership, such as Turkey and Serbia, are seeing stalled membership processes.
This combined with the European Union’s abhorrence of Russia’s aggressive warfare during the war in Ukraine makes Kyiv’s bid more likely to succeed in the future. For now, this is supplemented by the fact that approval from European Union members could help Europeans put an end to the widespread European skepticism towards aid to Ukrainians as well as showcase the solidarity of Europeans towards Ukrainians.
