“Years and even decades.” Macron sought the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine’s accession process to the European Union could take many years. “We know that the EU accession process can take many years or even decades. Let’s be honest, the EU cannot be the only way to restructure the European continent in the short term.

He stressed that Ukraine “is already a member of the European family”. Macron said the Europeans would be able to create a new “European political community” in which Kiev would be immediately accepted. He recalled that François Mitterrand, who served as President of France in the early 90s, had already proposed to create such a “European confederation”. Such a decision will allow Ukraine to take an active role in European affairs, but at the same time it will not have to reduce the conditions for candidates for EU membership.

“Participation in the new European political community will not be biased towards further participation of countries in the EU,” Macron said.

According to him, European politicians need to rethink the geography and organization of European cooperation in order to “respond to the aspirations not only of Ukraine but also of Georgia and Moldova”.

“Without humiliating both sides”

The French politician urged to “keep the peace at all costs” in Europe and prevent the situation in Ukraine from escalating. At the same time, he said that “only Kyiv should determine the terms of the negotiations” with Moscow. “We are not at war with Russia,” the president said.

Europe should also follow the path of reducing dependence on Russian energy sources and “stay independent”. “Our independence is the condition of our freedom,” said Macron.

“Our responsibility is to reach a ceasefire without spreading the conflict to other parts of Europe,” he said.

When the conflict is over, Russia and Ukraine will have to sit at the negotiating table.

“Russia and Ukraine will determine the terms of these negotiations. This should be done without denying or humiliating any of the parties,” he said.

Macron added that the coming weeks and months will be “challenging” and will require “necessary effort and unity” from Europe.

Two parts of the survey

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the country’s application for accession to the European Union at the end of February. On April 8, the European Commission delivered to Kiev a survey that needed to be completed to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. EC head Ursula von der Leyen later said that Ukraine’s application would be considered in the summer, but “it usually takes years for the Council of Europe to accept its application for membership”.

Ten days later, President Volodymyr Zelensky handed the first completed part of the questionnaire to the head of the EU Delegation. May 9 transferred The second part, which consists of 4 thousand pages.

“We are optimistic that by the end of this month, a positive decision will be signed by the President of the European Commission on Ukraine’s future move to the EU,” said Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for Europe and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Ukraine.

After the EC makes a recommendation to the EU Council to start negotiations, Ukraine will have to agree on terms with European negotiators. Such coordination often takes several years or even decades. For example, while Finland has covered this road in three years, Turkey, which started membership negotiations in the autumn of 2005, has not yet been a part of it.

Who awaits Ukraine in the EU?

Croatian Prime Minister Andriy Plenkovic had previously warned that Ukraine’s EU integration process would be slow. “No one entered the European Union overnight. After the first day of the EU leaders’ summit held in France in March, there is no quick process,” he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock notedHe said that the EU should only make promises that it can keep and not forget the Western Balkan countries that want to join society. At the same time, he added, “Ukraine’s European home is of course clear.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in April suggested Finding a special model of cooperation with the EU for Ukraine and not providing full membership to it. He stressed that on the backdrop of Ukraine’s desire to become a part of the EU, the Western Balkan countries, which have been waiting for a long time to join the community, should not be forgotten.

“[Необходима] It is a new concept of the European Neighborhood Policy, in which we will have individual suggestions for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, the European Union, which are our closest connections, and our value model. But I don’t think it should be through full membership,” he said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the accession of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to the European Union is not an issue that needs to be brought up now. According to him, first of all you need to “overcome the war”.

In March, eight EU countries openly supported accelerating Ukraine’s accession to the Union: the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia immediately turned to other European countries. granting candidate country status to the country.

“Lithuania for us, Latvia for us, Estonia, Poland, France, [президент] Emanuel [Макрон]I truly believe it will be for us”- listed Zelensky at the end of March.

“We believe in you, we need your support, we believe in your people, we believe in the European Union. And we believe that at the decisive moment, Germany will be with us as well.”