Although the European Union has expressed its support of Ukraine, it stopped short of offering the country fast-track membership at a summit of EU leaders in France on Thursday.
The bloc has been united in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with European countries expressing their great dismay at the war and hitting Russia with heavy sanctions.
In the wake of the war, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, requested that the EU provide his country with expedited membership to support the country under invasion.
“I say this as honestly as possible…the people of Ukraine have already earned and have the right to gain membership in the European Union,” he implored EU leaders in a statement in late February.
EU does not yet allow Ukraine immediate membership in bloc
“This will be the key evidence of our country’s support. The crucial moment has come to close once and for all the long-term strategic discussions and to decide on Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.”
Despite Europe’s vocal support for Ukraine, the bloc could not reach an agreement over the country’s immediate accession into the EU after nine hours of talks on the subject in Versailles.
In a statement, EU Council President Charles Michel affirmed that, while not an EU member state, Ukraine is closely connected to the bloc:
“It is clear that Ukraine is a member of the European family and we want to support all efforts to strengthen and consolidate the ties with Ukraine.”
While not a member of the EU, Ukraine has an “Association Agreement” with the EU, which provides the company with a broad trade agreement with the bloc.
Although many EU countries support Ukraine in the war with Russia, many European leaders and EU officials have stressed that the process of entering the EU could take years.
“There isn’t something like a fast track, a fast procedure…We also have to take the Western Balkan nations into account, who sometimes have been working for over a decade to become merely a candidate nation for membership. Think of Albania and (sic) Macedonia. Let’s see what we can do in a practical sense,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated to the press.
Additionally, according to EU rules, if an EU member state is invaded, its fellow European countries must enter into the conflict as well, something that many countries would prefer to avoid.
Russian oil and energy major topic
Apart from Ukraine’s EU membership, a large topic of discussion was Russian oil.
Countries across the world, particularly in Europe, have attempted to reduce their dependence on Russian oil since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Russia is currently the third-largest oil producer in the world and it contributes over 10% to the global supply of oil.
Currently, the EU imports 40% of its gas from Russia, but dependency varies from country to country: Poland imports 67% of its gas from Russia, and Ireland only 5%.
However, reducing Russian energy imports is important in supporting Ukraine, as Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Karins stressed, energy exports are a major source of income for Russia:
“The energy sector is the Kremlin’s main source of income, some 600 million euros a day…If we were to stop the purchase of Russian energy, that would stop the funding of the Russian military machine.”
Unlike the US, which has banned Russian oil imports completely, the EU is looking to reduce dependency on energy from the country, with the ultimate goal of eliminating it completely in the future.
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the need for the EU to combat increasing energy prices that are quickly becoming unsustainable for many Europeans at a talk at the meeting:
“A European response is needed to protect consumers, businesses and farmers from fluctuations in gas prices and consequently electricity, which are not dictated by the rules of supply and demand but are the result solely of speculation in the natural gas market.”
The Greek leader has laid out a comprehensive plan for reducing energy costs in Europe.
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