“Manifestation of desperation”: how Zelensky demanded that the EU urgently accept Ukraine into its ranks

Volodymyr Zelensky called on the European Union to resolve the issue of Ukraine's membership in the association.

He announced this the day before on Twitter following negotiations with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, adding that the parties discussed "further effective support" for Kyiv.

“This is a decisive moment in order to close the long-standing discussion once and for all and decide on Ukraine's membership in the EU,” Zelensky said.

The head of the European Council himself was more restrained in assessing the conversation with the Ukrainian president.

Without saying anything on the topic of membership, he only stated that "further specific support is on the way."

Zelensky also raised the issue of accepting the country into the ranks of the European Union during a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, stressing that Ukraine "should become part of the EU."

Despite the fact that Draghi supported Zelensky in his response and even called him a "European hero", he also did not touch on the prospect of Ukraine's membership in the EU.

Meanwhile, on February 26, Polish President Andrzej Duda spoke out for Ukraine's speedy entry into the European Union.

On his Twitter, he supported the "fast track" for the country.

“Candidate status should be granted immediately, and immediately after that, membership negotiations should begin,” Duda said.

He also expressed the opinion that Ukraine should get access to EU funding for recovery, as the country deserves it.

Earlier, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda spoke about his readiness to support the issue of granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate at a joint press conference after the meeting of the leaders of the Lublin Triangle countries in Kyiv.

Ukrainian claims

It is worth noting that recently Ukraine has stepped up its demands for membership in the European Union.

So, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 19, Zelensky said that Europe must prove to Russia that it is wrong when it convinces Ukrainians of the falsity of their chosen path.

“Really, eight years later, Ukraine should constantly call for the recognition of the European perspective... Shouldn't the EU say today: our citizens have a positive attitude towards Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

Why do we avoid this question?

Zelensky said.

The importance of providing a "European perspective" was emphasized on the same day by the country's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba at the so-called Ukrainian lunch in Munich.

According to him, for the EU "it does not cost anything, this is a political decision", which would serve as a signal for Moscow that Ukraine will not be abandoned by its partners.

Recall that the course for accession to the EU, Ukraine secured in its Constitution.

The relevant amendments were approved by the Verkhovna Rada in 2019.

Today, the nature of relations between Ukraine and the EU is determined by the association agreement, which was signed in March 2014 after the anti-constitutional coup d'état in the country.

The document is a package of 486 articles, most of which regulate issues related to trade.

closed doors

Despite the constant demands from Kyiv, the EU has repeatedly stated over the past years that the issue of Ukraine's accession to the union is not on the agenda.

In particular, Clement Bon, Secretary of State for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, said this in April 2021.

According to him, the prospect of Ukraine's membership in the EU is "not serious."

A similar point of view on August 23 of the same year in an interview with RBC-Ukraine was expressed by the Vice-President of the European Commission for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis, explaining that there is no consensus among the EU countries on further expansion.

“I don’t think that this can be a matter of the near future, given the political dynamics in the EU ... Unfortunately, this (Ukraine’s entry into the European Union. -

) is unlikely in the coming years,” Dombrovskis said.

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Two days later, the head of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, was skeptical about this in an interview with the publication Ukrayinska Pravda.

In her opinion, Ukraine does not meet any of the criteria for membership.

“To join the EU, you need to fulfill a lot of conditions ... You will probably need 20 years before you come to this readiness,” Kaljulaid explained.

The Estonian leader noted that first Ukraine needs to build an economy, democracy, a free society, and only then apply for EU membership.

The opinion of the functionaries of the European Union has not changed in 2022 either.

In particular, on February 11, the official representative of the EU Foreign Service, Peter Stano, stressed that Kyiv's membership in the EU is not on the agenda.

Unrealistic prospects

Experts interviewed by RT agree that Vladimir Zelensky's demands for Ukraine's EU membership speak of his isolation from reality.

As Oleg Nemensky, a leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, noted, the Ukrainian president turned out to be helpless in the current situation and makes statements that have no practical meaning and content.

“A country in which there is a war, no one will take anywhere.

But even when Ukraine was more or less peaceful, there was no talk of granting it the prospect of membership in the European Union.

So here we are most likely dealing with a manifestation of despair, since in these moments you need to make very responsible decisions and make only responsible statements.

And the claims to the EU now look ridiculous,” the expert said.

In turn, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, drew attention to the fact that Zelensky has been contradicting himself lately.

“At first he said that Ukraine was left alone, then he began to demand that it be immediately accepted into the European Union.

Apparently, Zelensky fills the information space in this way in order to be constantly heard and create the appearance of activity in the eyes of his fellow citizens.

After all, they now have a lot of questions for him, ”the analyst explained.

In addition, Shapovalov noted, the EU today is no longer the organization that can, as in 2004, accept ten countries at once into its ranks.

“The European Union is going through a serious crisis precisely because of its sharp expansion, which has led to structural distortions.

In addition, such a major player as the UK recently left its ranks, ”the RT interlocutor added.

Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, agrees with Shapovalov's opinion.

He stressed that the EU itself is now not in the best economic and political shape to accept such an unstable country as Ukraine.

The EU is quite satisfied with friendship with Ukraine at a distance, which is provided by the association agreement.

Moreover, Kyiv was immediately warned that the path to membership would be long and without time limits.

And the country can follow it for many more years, political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak said in a comment to RT.

“Brussels looks at Ukraine as a source of any benefits for themselves, and not as an equal partner.

At one time Kyiv signed an absolutely disenfranchised association agreement.

He then accepted all the conditions of the EU, which turned out to be less favorable for Ukraine than those received at one time by the same Poland, which was slowly bargaining on each of the clauses of the agreement.

In addition, in the short term, the future of Ukraine is so vague that no one in the EU wants to get involved with a country that cannot guarantee anything,” Dudchak summed up.