The French president warned on Monday that decades could pass Ukraine joins the European Union, and has proposed a new political organization to bring together countries on the continent that share EU values but are not part of the bloc.
Speaking on the occasion of Europe Day in Strasbourg, France, Emmanuel Macron said that “we all know perfectly well that the process of (Ukraine) accession would take several years, in fact probably several decades.” Macron spoke after the European Union’s executive branch, the European Commission, said it wants to issue an initial opinion on Ukraine’s application to join the bloc in June.
Once candidate status has been granted, the process of EU membership usually takes years and each individual Member State can veto not only a final accession agreement, but also the opening and closing of individual negotiating chapters.
The 27 EU countries have fully united in supporting Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion and have passed unprecedented economic sanctions against Moscow since the start of the war on February 24. But leaders are divided on how fast Brussels could go to accept Ukraine as a member. and how quickly the bloc was able to sever energy ties with Moscow.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she discussed “EU aid and Ukraine’s European path” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday. For now, Ukraine only has an “Association Agreement” with the EU, which aims to open the country’s markets and bring them closer to Europe. It includes a far-reaching free trade agreement and is intended to help modernize the Ukrainian economy.
Eastern European countries wholeheartedly support accelerating Ukraine’s membership, but EU officials have emphasized that the process could take years due to outstanding reforms that have yet to be achieved before the war-torn country meets EU criteria.
Macron said an accelerated procedure for Ukraine would lead to a lowering of standards, an idea he declines.
“The European Union, given its level of integration and ambition, cannot be the only way to structure the European continent in the short term,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, left, French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, cheer at the Conference on the Future of Europe, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Monday, May 9, 2022. (AP Foto/Jean-Francois Badias)
Instead, Macron proposed what he called a “European Political Community”, which would be open to countries that have not joined the EU, or, like the UK, have left the EU.
“This new European organization would enable democratic European nations that adhere to our core values to find a new space for political cooperation, security, energy cooperation, transport, investment, infrastructure, movement of people,” Macron said.
Macron added that joining the new organization would not guarantee future EU membership.
At an EU conference on the bloc’s future priorities, Macron highlighted the stark contrast with Russia, which staged a military parade in Moscow on the same day to commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“We have given two very different images from May 9,” Macron said. “On the one hand, there was a desire for a demonstration of violence and intimidation and a resolutely bellicose speech, and there was here … an association of citizens and parliamentarians – national and European – for a project about our future.”
