“Yes, to candidate status, and immediately,” said the deputy chairman of the CSU in an interview with the publications of the Funke media group.
- Our answer should be: "Your fight is worth it, you are welcome in the EU."
He stressed that the Ukrainian side allegedly fights not only for its independence, but also for the future of Europe.
“Ukraine proves every day that it is a European country and would be a competent and worthy member of the EU,” said the leader of the European People's Party faction.
Earlier in an interview with CNN, von der Leyen answered the question of whether the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union will accelerate.
“This is an important step forward: (European.
- RT
) the commission must form a so-called opinion.
And here we are working in close cooperation with the President (Ukraine Vladimir.
- RT
) Zelensky.
This is a precondition for any accession process,” said the head of the EC.
Recall, on April 8, von der Leyen handed over to Zelensky a questionnaire, the completion of which will allow the EC to recommend to the EU Council to start discussions on the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the union.
On April 18, Kyiv returned the completed questionnaire to Brussels.
The EC has confirmed that it has received the first honor of the questionnaire regarding granting Kiev the status of a candidate for joining the union, and is waiting for the second to start the process.
At the same time, the representative of the EC refused to name any dates.
“We will work diligently to compile our assessment, but we will not give specific dates,” Eric Mamer, spokesman for the commission, told reporters.
“We will do it as diligently and quickly as we can.”
EU flag
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© Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto
At the same time, according to Bloomberg, citing sources, the executive body of the European Union intends in June to present its opinion on Ukraine's application for obtaining candidate status for joining the bloc, which "will pave the way for a possible decision of the leaders in the same month."
According to an EU official, it usually takes 15-18 months to give an opinion on the status of a candidate to the commission.
“If this status is granted, the membership procedure (granting.
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) will officially begin - a laborious process that includes a number of steps and conditions and can usually take more than ten years,” the agency writes.
European aspirations
Recall that at the end of February, Zelensky called on the EU to immediately decide on the issue of Ukraine's membership "under a new special procedure" and signed an application for joining the association.
The European Commission reported that this request had been received, but stressed that hostilities must cease on Ukrainian territory before a decision is made.
Later, following the results of the first day of the informal EU summit in Versailles on March 10, the leaders of the states and governments of the European Union issued a joint statement stating that the association council invited the EC to "present its opinion" on Ukraine's application for membership in the Commonwealth.
A week later, Zelensky held talks with von der Leyen, after which he announced that the European Commission would prepare an opinion on Ukraine's application for EU membership "within a few months."
At the end of March, Zelensky, in a video message, called on Brussels "not to be late with the decision" to accept the Ukrainian side into the association.
"Unbearable burden"
As noted by Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Weber's call to declare Ukraine a candidate for EU membership as soon as possible should be regarded solely as a "populist political statement" that will lead nowhere.
“Weber can say anything, anywhere.
He is a member of the European Parliament, who is not responsible for anything and is not responsible.
It's about political PR.
However, in the EU there is a fairly clear procedure for joining the association.
And no one will fundamentally change this order.
Yes, it is possible to speed up some issues, and some, on the contrary, to slow down.
But no one will definitely change the process itself and its rules, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.
According to Mezhevich, Ukraine has no chances to become a member of the European Union in the short and medium term.
“There have not yet been precedents for a state to join the EU, on whose territory hostilities would be conducted and there were not fully settled territorial disputes,” the analyst said.
Mezhevich also believes that the European Union has a lot of its own problems and it "will not pull Ukraine's entry into the union primarily financially."
“Given that in many EU countries there are already great difficulties, including against the background of the energy crisis, the question will arise: to help the needy EU countries, which have long been EU members and have the right to count on subsidies, or to accept a new extremely problematic territory?
And Ukraine cannot be compared with the countries of the European Union, there is a completely different level of difficulties,” the expert explained.
As Bloomberg reported, citing a source, Zelensky told the head of the EC that Ukraine needs immediate financial assistance in the amount of $7 billion a month just to cover social benefits and salaries.
According to Mezhevich, Brussels is trying to play along with Ukraine in its European aspirations "as soon as it can", but there is an awareness in the EU that Zelensky "inappropriately started this whole story with joining the union."
“There is a feeling that the Ukrainian leader, while continuing to promote the idea of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, does not at all take into account that Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass has entered a new phase and has not yet been completed,” the analyst noted.
In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, said that Weber also "does not look soberly" at the prospect of Ukraine's entry into the EU.
European Parliament
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© JOHN THYS
“He is not a deep specialist, but an outspoken Russophobe who does not delve into the essence of the issue.
The fact is that Ukraine, if purely hypothetically imagined that it will be admitted to the EU, will be equal to Poland in terms of the number of necessary subsidies.
Moreover, their number may even be much higher.
If you follow the EU regulations, then Brussels will have to pay this money to Ukraine.
That is, this is practically the collapse of the European Union, its default, since this is an unbearable burden for it, ”the expert said in a comment to RT.
Olenchenko also called Ukraine "a ballast that could topple the EU ship."
“For this reason, a compromise decision can be made by Brussels: the Ukrainian side will be given assistance, but the granting of candidate status will be postponed at least until the formation of a new financial plan, which will be approved in 2027,” the analyst believes.
In addition, Olenchenko noted that the current laws of Ukraine do not comply with EU standards.
“In the European Union, discrimination on the basis of language, ethnicity and confession is unacceptable.
But we observe all these extremely negative manifestations in the Ukrainian territories, ”the expert said.
At the same time, Olenchenko stressed that Kyiv is using a "village approach", seeking to speed up the procedure for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
“Kyiv wants to parasitize on the European economy.
The Ukrainian authorities would like the European Union to take on obligations that Kyiv cannot fulfill to its own citizens.
But Ukraine's dreams of becoming dependents in the EU are not destined to come true.
She, most likely, will remain in the status of a country forever waiting for membership in the association, ”he concluded.