Friedrich Merz
“It is clear to everyone that Ukraine’s immediate accession to the EU is currently impossible,” Merz said after an informal EU summit in Cyprus, which was also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Therefore, Merz proposed a “pre-accession plan” with intermediate steps as a possible strategy. Under this strategy, the Western Balkan countries should also get a boost in the EU accession process.
Zelensky rejected partial EU accession
Shortly before, Zelensky rejected the proposal for Ukraine’s partial accession. “Ukraine is defending itself and defending Europe. And this is not just a symbolic defense of Europe – people are really dying,” Euronews journalists quoted him as saying. – Ukraine does not need symbolic EU membership.”
At the same time, he admitted that negotiations on “various possible formats of Ukraine’s membership in the EU” were already under way at “different levels”.
Is a “new beginning” for Ukraine possible?
Overall, the past week was characterized by progress in terms of EU support for Ukraine.
On Thursday, the bloc approved a €90bn loan to the country after Hungary lifted its veto.
The EU agreed on another round of sanctions against Russia. Hungary and Slovakia lifted their veto over the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline.
On the sidelines of the summit in Cyprus, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal spoke about the possibility of a “new beginning” in Ukraine’s EU accession process.
However, many EU heads of state and government have repeatedly expressed skepticism about what is often described as an “accelerated” process and warned against shortcuts.
