A day after pledging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their unwavering support, the European Union on Friday came face to face with one of its worst political headaches on a key commitment — how and when to welcome destitute and battered Ukraine into the bloc.
And immediately, a rift became evident: between those who want to draw Kyiv and other aspiring nations in as quickly as possible, and others that want the bloc to bide its time, setting up difficult talks on an issue that requires unanimity among the 27 member states.
Most EU nations have said since the February 2022 start of the war that they would work steadfastly on a “lasting unity” with Ukraine that would eventually translate into Kyiv’s membership in the wealthy bloc. Now, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, ever the recalcitrant voice at summits, insisted the whole idea would have to be rethought from scratch.
“We have never done an enlargement to the country which is in a war. And we don’t know where are the effective borders, how many people are living there,” Orbán said as he arrived at the EU summit in Granada. “Sorry, it’s painful to get these countries in the EU.”
Ukraine deserves to be in the EU, but they’ve a long way to go, and its not just the war. They have a vast corruption problem which needs fixing before becoming one with the other EU nations. The EU should start a process that ties progress on that, to getting nearer to EU membership.
I think the corruption problem in Ukraine needs to be brought front and center.
Everyone who is corrupt in Ukraine is responsible for keeping them out of NATO and subsequently allowing Russia to invade.
Once it becomes apparent to these people that their corruption is killing them, maybe they’ll start holding each other accountable and punishing corruption accordingly.
The first step would be expelling Hungary and all the other right wing Putin allies.
We need new members but I do worry about the antidemocratic lean of those right wing states. We just need to change the rules so that one lone voter or partners in crime can’t hold up progress. And strengthen our processes to allow for expulsion and exclusion from funding.
Europe thrives on immigration and expansion, the proposal for a tiered system is a good start.
Tiered system already exists. Some countries are not members of EU but they have same trade agreements and similar.
There was a German French funded recommendation that would have a 4 tier system released a week or so ago. It goes from the first community of euro currency nations out to non euro, those willing to adapt their laws to trade with the EU and outside EU.
It would allow for the increase in membership without making new nations equals right away, and instead of nations struggling to meet qualifications they can gradually work toward them with supports and the opportunities afforded to them from being affiliated.
It also comes with a package of new rules and processes that would prevent single member nations blocking progress or teaming up with another to prevent an action. It tackles the issues that Hungary has brought to a head.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
And immediately, a rift became evident: between those who want to draw Kyiv and other aspiring nations in as quickly as possible, and others that want the bloc to bide its time, setting up difficult talks on an issue that requires unanimity among the 27 member states.
Most EU nations have said since the February 2022 start of the war that they would work steadfastly on a “lasting unity” with Ukraine that would eventually translate into Kyiv’s membership in the wealthy bloc.
Orbán insisted the budgetary consequences had not yet been fully worked out, in addition to the impact of Ukraine’s massive agricultural production on the fate of the other nations with large farm sectors.
Last month, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia banned Ukrainian grain and other food products from their markets, saying the imports were dragging down prices for local producers.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas emphasized the advantages for Estonia from joining the bloc in 2004, making its way up from a relatively poor nation to one that is near the EU average of GDP in less than two decades.
But von der Leyen has stressed that “accession is merit-based.” She says the progress these countries make in aligning their laws with EU rules and standards should dictate the pace of membership, rather than some arbitrary deadline.
The original article contains 642 words, the summary contains 217 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
