The EU Commission will evaluate Ukraine’s accession bid in response to its emergency application for membership, which was signed by Ukrainian president Zelensky last week.
The Commission must evaluate all EU membership bids while the process must be voted upon by all 27 member states and pass unanimously.
According to a report from Bloomberg, EU leaders are expected to discuss the country’s prospects for full membership in the bloc at a summit to be held in Paris on March 10-11.
Ukraine EU membership would be a boon for struggling, war-torn nation
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova will all have their applications reviewed by the commission, whose executive will examine the requests and publish an opinion for each one, either supporting or rejecting the application, according to the website euronews.
The EU Council must then approve each country’s application by a unanimous vote, upon which the nation will officially become an EU candidate.
The process is a long and complex one, and the convoluted political realities in these areas, along with the corruption that most observers see as a continuing problem in these nations have posed a problem in the past for their accession.
If these three nations officially become candidates, the Commission will create a framework for negotiations; however, even that must be passed unanimously by the league of 27 member states. Because of the difficulties in each of these three countries as they make their way out of the orbit of the former Soviet Union, most political observers believe that Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia will most likely be requested to begin a range of reforms before any formal discussions on joining the EU can take place.
Although the world has rallied around the embattled Ukraine after its invasion by Russia, such a fast-tracked fast-tracked accession process as Kyiv is demanding, has never been attempted in the history of the EU.
🔴Accord du #COREPERII pour inviter la @EU_Commission à présenter un avis sur chacune des demandes d’adhésion à l’UE présentées par l’Ukraine, la Géorgie et la Moldavie. 1/2 ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/i1lj41UNzW
— Présidence française du Conseil de l’UE 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Europe2022FR) March 7, 2022
President Zelensky “in constant contact with friends”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky kept up his typical frantic pace of telephone diplomacy with leaders around the world on Monday, announcing on Twitter that he was “in constant contact with friends” including Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Nausėda himself heaped praise on what he called the “outstanding courage” of Zelensky “and all the people of Ukraine in resisting the Russian invasion.”
Zelensky spoke with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, among other leaders, today as he shored up support for his nation amid the ongoing Russian onslaught.
President Zelenskyy also spoke with US President Joe Biden on Sunday to discuss security issues as well as financial support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
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