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BRUSSELS – European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to make Ukraine a candidate for membership in the bloc, a symbolic victory for Kyiv amid the war with Russia and another sign of how the conflict is reshaping the world.
Candidate status does not give membership, which can still be decades. But the solution is a historic step for Europe – and sends a signal to Moscow.
The heads of state and government, who met in Brussels for a two-day European Council summit, also agreed to run for Moldova. Ukraine and Moldova both will have to meet certain conditions as candidates in order to move forward. The leaders said Georgia would become a candidate if it met other conditions.
“This is a defining moment and a very good day for Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels. “This strengthens Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in the face of Russian aggression and strengthens the European Union.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky welcomed the news. “I sincerely welcome the decision of the EU leaders,” he tweeted.
The Kremlin claims that Ukraine, sovereign state, is not a real state and wants to introduce it into the sphere of influence of Moscow by force. Vsevolod Chentsov, head of Ukraine’s mission to the EU, said the path to membership in the bloc sends the message that Ukraine is a very real country with a future of its choice.
For Ukrainians tired of months of fighting, EU candidate status is a “gesture of confidence,” Chentsov said this week, and an indication that “the EU believes Ukraine can do it.”
The EU has granted Ukraine candidate status. Here’s what it means.
Leaders, diplomats and officials expressed surprise that member states finally managed to reach an agreement on Ukraine, as well as Moldova and Georgia, after years of debate and stalemate.
“Only a few months ago, I was really skeptical that we would achieve this position,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said on Thursday. “I’m very glad we’re there.”
An EU spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private talks, said the bloc’s leaders had moved more towards enlargement in the past two weeks, “than in the last 25 years”.
The decision comes as a difficult time for Ukraine. Russian forces have made further progress south of the eastern city of Lisichansk, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday, which reportedly led defense forces to move to avoid the encirclement.
The fall of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Aleksandrovka followed Russia’s takeover of the strategic village of Toshkivka earlier in the week. Much of Lisichansk’s battered twin city of Severodonetsk is under Russian control as Moscow seeks to occupy the entire province of Luhansk.
Ukraine’s defense minister said on Thursday that the country had received from the United States a batch of highly mobile M142 artillery missile systems known as HIMARS. The weapons will allow Ukrainian forces to fire multiple missiles at Russian artillery and forces quickly and accurately, US officials say.
The news from Brussels raised the morale of Ukrainians. “Ukraine will prevail. Europe will prevail, “Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said in a video message.
“Today marks the beginning of a long journey that we will take together,” he continued. “The Ukrainian people belong to the European family. Ukraine’s future is with the EU. “
Ukraine has long sought to join the EU. Days after the war, Zelenski pleaded for an accelerated path to membership, dropping the candidacy as a matter of survival. While the Baltic States and other Eastern European countries supported the idea, many Member States rejected it.
In the spring, leaders from those countries seemed happy to pose with Zelensky, but were reluctant to offer Ukraine a path to membership.
“None of the 27 would say ‘no’ in the face of the president,” Olha Stefanishina, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Washington Post on June 9 in Brussels. “But what is happening behind the scenes is a clear willingness to put obstacles in the process.”
Zelenski called on EU leaders to do more. Granting Ukraine candidate status will “prove that words about the longing of the Ukrainian people to be part of the European family are not just words,” he said in a June 10 speech. The next day, von der Leyen made a surprise visit to Kyiv to finalize his assessment of the country’s candidacy.
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As von der Leyen continued to advertise Ukraine’s readiness, Ukrainian diplomats toured European capitals to keep up the pressure. Some delays have begun, fearing they will be seen standing in Ukraine’s way to belittle their previous skepticism.
Last week, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy visited Kyiv and voiced support for Ukraine’s candidacy. The next day, the commission recommended candidate status. Earlier this week, EU diplomats called it a “done deal”.
But the same diplomats warn that there is a long way to go. The Commission outlined six steps that Ukraine needs to face before it can move forward. Among them: implementation of laws to ensure the selection of qualified judges; limiting the influence of the oligarchs; and improving the results of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for corruption.
With the raging fighting in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities acknowledge that it will be difficult to move forward with some reforms. “Inevitably, there will be problems that need to be resolved after the shooting stops,” Chentsov said.
The challenges are not limited to Ukraine. Although EU countries have decided to pave the way for membership for three countries, the appetite for enlargement remains modest. After making a symbolic gesture, Member States can look for ways to slow things down.
Turkey applied in 1987 and remains a candidate. Serbia, Montenegro, northern Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia have been negotiating EU membership for years.
Europe is uniting behind Ukraine. But fatigue is around the corner.
The draft conclusions of the summit, received by The Washington Post, suggest that Ukraine’s membership may depend on the bloc’s “capacity” to “absorb new members.” Some want to reconsider EU decision-making before admitting newcomers.
If Ukraine joins now, it will become the fifth most populous member state and by far the poorest. Ukraine’s GDP per capita last year was $ 4,872, less than half that of the current poorest country, Bulgaria, at $ 11,683, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Some countries, especially in Western Europe, remain concerned that a large new member could further complicate decision-making and shift the balance of power to Central and Eastern Europe.
The leaders planned to meet again on Friday to discuss the impact of the Russian war on the economy. Germany on Thursday raised the country’s alert level for its gas emergency plan as Russia cut supplies to Europe.
World leaders, including President Biden, are due to meet in Madrid next week for a NATO summit focused on the war in Ukraine and the future of the alliance.
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