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Jun 24, 2022 · 24 June 2022. Getty Images. Ukraine has become an official candidate for European Union (EU) membership, the first step to joining the organisation. The process could take years to complete...
Dec 15, 2023 · BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukraine got a green light Thursday to start sped-up talks on joining the European Union. That’s a big boost for war-ravaged Ukraine and a loud message to Vladimir Putin — but it could be years before the country actually becomes a member of the EU.
- What Does EU Candidate Status Mean?
- What Reforms Are Required to Qualify For Membership?
- Does Ukraine’s Invitation Complicate Other Accession Efforts?
- Is There Any Precedent For Accepting A State with Occupied Territory?
- How Could Ukraine’s Accession Process Influence The Conflict with Russia?
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were five EU candidate countries: Turkey (since 1999), North Macedonia (since 2005), Montenegro (since 2010), Serbia (since 2012), and Albania (since 2014). In theory, any candidate can immediately start formal accession negotiations; in practice, there is no guarantee that will happen quickly. In the ca...
Accession to the EU requires meeting the “Copenhagen criteria,” which are based on three pillars. One is political and includes respect for democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. A second is economic and requires the prospective member to have a functioning market economy. The third is administrative and institutional and entails the incorpo...
It could rankle some aspirant countries, especially in the Western Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina applied in 2016 but has yet to receive candidate status. Kosovo’s aspirations are complicated by the fact that it is not a member of the United Nations due to Russia’s veto on the Security Council. And earlier this month, the EU failed to launch acces...
The EU set a precedent for admitting a country with unsettled borders with Cyprus in May 2004. For decades, the island has been divided by Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus. At the insistence of Greece, Cyprus was included in the EU’s biggest wave of enlargement, which also included the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), ...
It is hard to tell how Putin will react to future steps in the process. He has made clear in the past that his main opposition is to Ukraine’s aspirations for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) rather than in the EU. Similarly, he has no trouble with Finland’s or Sweden’s EU membership but sees their NATO applications as a ...
- Matthias Matthijs
Dec 14, 2023 · If Ukraine became an EU member while the war with Russia was ongoing, EU countries would have to respect that. Advertisement · Scroll to continue. The EU would also acquire a long new...
Dec 15, 2023 · 6 min. BRUSSELS — The European Union on Thursday agreed to open accession talks with Ukraine, bringing the country a step closer to its dream of joining the bloc, despite lingering concern...
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there were additional calls to start a formal accession process: Ukraine reiterated its desire to become a member of the union, and European Commission president von der Leyen stated that Ukraine belongs in the European Union.
Jun 17, 2022 · While the recommendation marks a strategic eastward shift by the EU in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine, Kyiv would likely take years to become a member of the 27-nation EU, if at...
