Austria: It is unlikely that Ukraine will soon join the EU

Job Ukraine Joining the European Union (EU) will not happen “within the next 5 to 10 years”, RT quoted Austria’s EU Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler as predicting.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg expressed a similar view, despite European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s insistence that Ukraine would soon join the bloc.

It is unlikely that Ukraine will soon be admitted to the EU. Ukraine’s EU accession will be “a long process of adjustment, which will certainly not be achieved within the next five to 10 years,” Edtstadler told Austria’s APA news agency. Edtstadler added that because some Balkan countries have waited “decades” to join the union, there is no quick way for Ukraine.

Before Edtstadler made the above comment, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg angered Kiev by suggesting that Ukraine pursue an association agreement with the EU or integration into the European Economic Area, instead of joining the EU. . Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko called the advice “strategically short-sighted and not in the interest of a united Europe”.

Secretary Edtstadler told APA: “What Secretary of State Alexander Schallenberg wants to say here is that maybe you have to be creative in the way you present Ukraine to Western values. But what Ukraine clearly hears is the refusal of EU membership. That’s not what we mean, and it’s not the Austrian position.”

Austria is not the only EU member to call for caution in the rapid admission of Ukraine to the European Union. Foreign Minister Virtue Annalena Baerbock warned in March that “joining the EU is not something that can be done in a few months”, while Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that pushing for Ukraine’s accession could be seen as unfair. equal to long-standing candidates such as Turkey and Montenegro.

When considering admitting a country as a member, the European Commission evaluates everything from that country’s economic activity to its legal system, along with environmental regulations and agricultural practices. This process can take decades, for example Turkey has remained a candidate country since 1999.

However, Ukraine has completed the first part of a questionnaire for future members, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last month that “it will not be as usual. The odds are that it takes years to join, Ukraine can become an EU member in a few weeks.”

Sources EU told Bloomberg last month that a preliminary decision on Ukraine’s candidacy could be made as early as June. Full membership, however, still depends on the European Commission’s investigation. and unanimous consent of all EU member states.