Posted on 06/18/2022 06:00
(Photo credit: Presidency of Ukraine/Disclosure)
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (the executive body of the European Union), handpicked the costume to make a symbolic announcement. Dressed in yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, she signaled her support for Kiev’s bid for membership. “Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia share a strong and legitimate aspiration to join the European Union (EU). We are sending them a clear signal of support for their endeavours,” he said.
“The Commission recommends that the European Council firstly give Ukraine a European perspective and secondly grant it candidate status. (…) We confirm that in due course the people of Ukraine will be part of the EU. The next steps are in the hands of our member countries,” von der Leyen added. “We know that Ukrainians are ready to die to protect their European aspirations to defend, we want them to live with us, for the European dream.”
Hours after the announcement in Geneva, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv for the second time since the invasion began on February 24. The British leader made a surprise arrival in the Ukrainian capital, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Johnson has offered to launch a comprehensive training program for Ukrainian forces, with plans to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days. At a press conference, Zelenskyy said the two discussed the current situation at the front, in eastern and southern Ukraine, and the country’s protective capabilities in the face of “Russian occupation”. “In particular, we talked about the need to increase the supply of heavy weapons. The most important thing today is the air defense of Ukraine. We have started to move in that direction,” Zelenskyy commented. On Wednesday Chancellor Olaf Scholz; French President Emmanuel Macron; and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi were also in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy responded to von der Leyen’s statements via Twitter. “I am grateful to the EU leaders for their confidence in Ukraine’s European future,” he wrote, calling the decision “historic.” Next Thursday, the 27 member states of the EU will meet for a twoday summit to consider Ukraine’s candidacy application, which must be approved unanimously. If that happens, a phase of long accession negotiations between Kyiv and Brussels will begin.
On Thursday, Scholz, Macron and Draghi spoke out in favor of membership. “Ukraine is part of the European family,” said the German Chancellor. “We support immediate candidate status,” added the Frenchman.
Premature
For Peter Zalmayev, director of the NGO Eurasia Democracy Initiative (in Kyiv), it is too early to assess the importance of the European Commission’s support for Ukraine’s candidacy. He believes the body will try to postpone the discussion and wait for a member country like Hungary to block Ukraine’s accession. He reminds that the Netherlands is also skeptical about a possible Ukrainian candidacy. “From a symbolic point of view, it is an important sign that Europe is ready to redefine Ukraine as part of Western civilization,” he told the Correio.
Salmayev advocates accelerating Ukraine’s EU accession process. “That will not happen. It’s one thing to say that Ukraine has a candidacy. It’s another to say she’s accepted. We had a precedent that illustrates the difficulty of the process. Turkey signed a customs union agreement with the EU in December 1995. Years later, he submitted his candidacy to join the bloc. Almost three decades passed and membership was denied,” he added.
Anton Suslov an analyst at the School of Political Analysis (naUKMA) in Kyiv is betting that Ukraine’s candidate status must be confirmed by the European Council (the EU’s decisionmaking body) within a week. “I have no doubt that the decision will be positive. The European Commission’s historic announcement of support for the candidacy is of the utmost importance, both for Ukraine and for the EU,” he said.
According to Suslov, one of the turning points in Ukraine’s recent history was Russia’s westward movement. “In the war, our men lost their lives for the values of freedom and democracy. European integration is not just a set of political and economic reforms, but a choice for civilization,” the Ukrainian commented.
I find…
Credit: Aleksandr Indychii
“The visits of European leaders to Kyiv are a sign of awareness of the need to defend Ukraine. At the same time, other nations, with the exception of the United Kingdom, have shown reluctance to provide the type and quantity of arms The trip to Kyiv by Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Mario Draghi and other leaders is a kind of guilt, a penance. For example, Germany did not announce arms deliveries during Scholz’s visit.
Peter Zalmayev, Director of the NGO Eurasia Democracy Initiative (based in Kyiv)
“We have nothing against it,” says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that his country had “nothing against” a possible accession to the European Union. “We have nothing against it, joining trade associations is a sovereign decision (…). It’s your business, the business of the Ukrainian people,” said the Kremlin chief during a plenary session of the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. “Unlike NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the EU is not a military alliance,” he continued. “As far as economic integration is concerned, it’s their choice,” Putin said. However, he also stated that if Ukraine were accepted into the EU, it would become “a semicolony” of western countries. “That’s my opinion,” he said.