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Ukraine's EU accession: a promise worth nothing

2022-06-20T06:00:03.215Z


The candidacy for EU membership does not benefit Ukraine. More important would be practical help: weapons and money.


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Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko / REUTERS

Ukraine needs arms, money and full political support from the EU.

Instead, she got an empty promise.

The country is to be given candidate country status.

The EU Commission is in favor of this, as are the large member states.

The heads of state and government will probably decide so at their summit this week.

It has no practical use for Ukraine.

In other regions of Europe, on the other hand, it causes considerable damage.

In order to understand why this is the case, one has to make it clear who is campaigning for candidate status: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Manuel Draghi.

Scholz promised Ukraine weapons, which she is still waiting for today.

Macron has stated that one should not humiliate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Draghi has presented a peace plan that plays into the hands of the Russian attackers.

On their trip to Ukraine last week, the three of them had nothing in their luggage apart from solidarity.

Therefore, they had to yield to the urging of the Ukrainian government on at least one point.

They didn't want to be completely empty-handed.

The candidate status is now being praised everywhere as an important signal, in comments and by those responsible themselves. Ukraine belongs in the European family, said Scholz in Kyiv.

How seriously this is meant can be seen from the restrictions attached to the promise.

There should be "no shortcuts" on the way to the EU, the Chancellor had previously emphasized in the Bundestag.

"The process will take decades," said French President Emmanuel Macron in the European Parliament.

A candidate status for eternity, so to speak.

Scholz and Macron are right about this.

The rule of law in Ukraine is far from European standards, and corruption is endemic.

The Ukraine is a country "whose administration, parliament, parties, television channels, courts are controlled by a few super-rich," wrote SPIEGEL two years ago.

The candidature for membership has no practical benefit for Ukraine.

In other regions of Europe, however, it is causing damage.

Everything agrees, say the supporters, but the government in Kyiv knows that too.

The candidate status is nevertheless important – as a symbol of European solidarity.

This is wrong on two counts.

On the one hand, it is questionable whether the Ukrainian leadership has the same time horizon as the EU.

His country has "taken another step on our way to the European Union, an important and not only formal one," said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj when he submitted the application for membership.

"It usually takes months, but we got it done in weeks."

There is also the expectation that Ukraine will not only be granted candidate status quickly, but that actual accession will be a matter of years rather than decades.

This can only end in a bad disappointment.

In the worst case, it will alienate Ukraine from the EU.

Which brings us to the symbolic content of the matter.

The granting of candidate status is actually a symbol – not so much for Ukraine, but for the states of the Western Balkans.

They have been trying in vain for a long time to be allowed to negotiate with the EU about accession.

Macedonia complied with all demands from Brussels and even changed its name - only to be stopped by a Bulgarian veto.

Serbia threatens to drift further and further into Russia's orbit because the EU is not opening up any concrete prospects for the country.

By granting candidate status to Ukraine, the EU is sending a clear message to these countries: you are not that important to us.

This is unnecessary and politically short-sighted.

The Balkans are just as relevant to security and peace in Europe as Ukraine.

The wars of the past show that.

Incidentally, the EU itself is not prepared for enlargement.

As long as unanimity is required on important issues, there is no point in admitting new members.

It would only jeopardize the Union's ability to act.

Instead of making unrealistic promises, the EU should agree on new forms of cooperation with its neighbors, such as gradual integration into the common market or inclusion in the Schengen area.

These should not be alternatives to full membership, but intermediate stages on the way there.

All of this should have been honestly discussed with Ukraine.

Candidate status is a pattern with no value.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-06-20

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