Don’t get sense EU countries ready to give Ukraine date for membership, EU’s Kallas says
by John Irish and Andrew Gray
MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) – European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday she felt EU governments were not ready to give Ukraine a membership date despite a request from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy repeated on Saturday that he needed a date for a final peace package with Russia, covered by security guarantees.
Speaking at a panel at the Munich Security Conference, Kallas said, “My opinion is that member states are not ready to give a concrete date.” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”
UKRAINE IS WORKING FOR MEMBERSHIP IN 2027
Diplomats said that Ukraine’s EU membership in 2027 was written in the 20-item peace plan discussed between the USA, Ukraine and the European Union, and that this was a measure to secure Ukraine’s economic prosperity after the war ends.
But many EU governments believe that this date, or any fixed date, is entirely unrealistic, as EU accession is a merit-based process and progress is only made when progress is made in adapting a country’s laws to EU standards.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics echoed Kallas’ comments but held little hope for an imminent peace agreement.
“Yes, we understand that we need Ukraine in the European Union, and yes, talking to many heads of state, I get the feeling that they are not ready to accept a date,” he said.
Rinkevics said the EU is always creative when there is a real need and can probably find a formula that suits the bloc, but it also needs to appease Western Balkan countries and Moldova, which have long competed for membership.
“Like it or not, it depends very much on the peace agreement. Will there be a peace agreement or not? I don’t think Russia will move, and if Russia doesn’t move then we won’t make a deal,” he said.
Ukraine applied to join the EU just days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, seeking to anchor itself politically and economically in the West.
It is trying to make progress on its goal, despite the difficulties of war and opposition from EU member Hungary, which prevents the start of detailed membership negotiations.
(Reporting by John Irish and Andrew Gray, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and David Goodman)
