EU membership for Ukraine was previously considered impossible because of the conflict with Russia, but now the EU states have agreed on a highly symbolic step: on Monday they started examining Ukraine's application for membership.

However, the country cannot hope for quick membership – even if Ukraine were to hold its own against the Russian attack.

Specifically, according to the French Presidency, the ambassadors of the EU countries agreed to obtain an initial statement from the EU Commission on the candidate status for Ukraine.

The applications from Georgia and Moldova should also be examined.

Selenskyj demands membership in fast track

The heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries are expected to deal with the issue at a summit in Versailles, France, on Thursday and Friday.

Above all, eastern EU countries such as Poland and Slovenia had campaigned for Ukraine's membership.

The three former Soviet states had officially applied to join the EU after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even demanded that the Europeans fast-track membership in order to be able to play a trump card against Moscow.

However, the EU countries did not follow suit, as diplomats emphasize.

Because EU accession procedures are lengthy and involve a large number of steps.

According to the EU treaty, candidate countries must meet numerous criteria.

They range from the stability of state institutions and the rule of law to a functioning market economy.

The first hurdle is the opinion of the EU Commission: It examines the applications in detail and can then recommend the EU countries to grant a country the status of a candidate country.

Only when all 27 member countries agree unanimously can the actual accession process begin.

The various accession chapters will then be opened in a process lasting many years.

The candidate countries have to prove to the EU that they meet the so-called Copenhagen criteria for membership readiness.

As a rule, this requires comprehensive reforms, for example in the fight against corruption or in the judicial system.

The start of accession negotiations does not always lead to membership, as the example of Turkey shows.

It was granted candidate country status at the end of 1999, and accession negotiations began in October 2005.

However, these turned out to be extremely tough, including in the conflict over EU member Cyprus.

After the failed military coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016 and the mass arrests that followed, the EU put the process on hold for the time being.

Several Balkan states have also been in the waiting room of the EU for years.