China News Service, June 18 (Reporter Meng Xiangjun) Ukraine is finally looking forward to a ray of dawn?
On June 17, local time, European Commission President von der Leyen announced that the European Commission proposed to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate member state of the European Union.
Under the rules, the proposal needs to be unanimously approved by the EU's 27 member states before it can be formally adopted.
Earlier, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries expressed opposition.
So, it remains to be seen the outcome of discussions among EU member states next week.
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania who visited Ukraine recently expressed their support for this move.
In fact, the leaders of the four countries deliberately chose to visit at this time, which is very particular!
[European "Big Three" visit Kyiv]
On June 16, under the protection of military and police with live ammunition, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi boarded a refitted luxury sightseeing train and headed to Kyiv.
Coupled with Romanian President Johannes, who visited Kyiv alone on the same day, the leaders of the four countries are rarely gathered together.
The first mystery is that Western politicians are going to Kyiv, why take the train?
On June 16, local time, French President Emmanuel Macron (center), German Chancellor Scholz (right) and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi took a train bound for Kyiv.
It seems that it has become a "practice" for Western dignitaries to visit Ukraine, whether it is the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, or the US Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin. .
According to the interpretation of the BBC, if these dignitaries take a Polish military plane to Kyiv, they may be regarded by Russia as a "provocation", triggering a Russian air countermeasure.
Therefore, it is better to take the train late at night, there is no "risk of life".
For this visit, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has stated that the visit of the leaders of the three countries to Kyiv "will not shorten the distance between Ukraine and peace", and the results of their visit will be "zero".
[Fa-U relationship is delicate]
After more than an hour's drive, the leaders of the three countries arrived in Kyiv.
They were greeted by Ukrainian Vice President Veresuk.
Where is Ukrainian President Zelensky?
In the presidential residence, waiting to meet them behind closed doors.
The second mystery, why didn't Zelensky go to the station to meet him at the first time?
One analysis believes that it is mainly for security reasons, because Zelensky did not pick up the station when the senior American officials went before, but he and the visitors essentially took the same risk; another said that the Kyiv regime cannot be ruled out. Dissatisfied with the previous position of the European "Big Three".
How to say it, the French "Le Monde" gave an interesting inference: Macron is an "ally unpopular with the Ukrainians".
The newspaper analyzed that in the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the relationship between Paris and Kyiv was actually quite "excellent".
Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential palace, said that Macron "called Zelensky every day" and "consulted with Zelensky before talking to Putin", and he "really wanted to help us."
French President Emmanuel Macron.
However, with the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kyiv area, and the United States and others began to claim that the Russian troops committed the "Bucha Massacre", a turning point appeared.
Unlike leaders of many European countries who went to Kyiv to "support the scene", Macron insisted on dialogue with Moscow, calling Russia and Ukraine a "fraternal nation" and persuading Ukraine to "not fall into the atmosphere of humiliation or revenge" Russia.
Macron also proposed the creation of a "European political community" to complement the EU, inviting Kyiv to join, otherwise he thought Ukraine could wait "decades" to become an EU member.
These remarks are accused of angering Ukrainians.
Recently, Macron's words caused controversy again, he said: "Don't humiliate Russia."
In this regard, the Ukrainian foreign minister replied, "Calling to avoid humiliating Russia will only humiliate France."
[Three Kingdoms sent a few gifts]
Not only Macron, this is the first visit to Ukraine by leaders of three major European countries since the outbreak of the Russian conflict.
The three of them went there in person and expressed their affection as "good news messengers", which will undoubtedly reduce the dissatisfaction of the Ukrainian side.
What's more, they also sent several "gifts", and Zelensky also said "thank you" on social media.
The third mystery, "gifts" are not prepared casually, each one has a lot of background: ↓↓
Gift one, quasi "membership card".
The leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Romania all expressed their support for Uzbekistan's "immediate access to the EU's candidacy for membership".
This is one of Zelensky's strongest wishes.
After the Russian army entered Ukraine in February, he repeatedly called on the EU to allow Ukraine to "accede quickly", and in May submitted the text of the response to the EU candidate status investigation.
Gift two, weapons and armaments.
In addition to the 12 "Caesar" self-propelled howitzers delivered, Macron decided to reinforce 6 "Caesar" guns to Ukraine; Germany provided 3 sets of rocket launchers.
Although the Ukrainian side has always complained that the military aid from France, Germany and other countries is slow and low, it is definitely better than not receiving new equipment.
On March 24, local time, representatives of the Group of Seven (G7) and the European Union held a summit in Brussels, Belgium.
Image source: G7
Gift three, special invitation.
At the end of June, the next G7 summit will be held in Bavaria, Germany.
German Chancellor Scholz invited Zelensky to the meeting, which he accepted.
Zelensky is expected to attend the meeting via video, as before.
Gift four, spiritual support.
Take Macron, for example, this time the consolation has a strong meaning, which is different from the previous tone.
"Europe is on Ukraine's side and will continue to stand on the same side until victory," he said, stressing that Ukraine must win the war "in a way that preserves territorial integrity and sovereignty."
"As long as it is fighting for Ukrainian independence, we will continue to help," Scholz said.
Draghi said Italy would express its support at the next European Council meeting.
According to the above, the fourth mystery is not to underestimate spiritual support. In addition to sympathy, Ukraine needs more security from Europe.
【Inside Europe with different thoughts】
According to Macron, this time Europe is singing a "music of solidarity", mainly "to send a signal of solidarity to the whole of Europe".
But if you pay attention a little, you will find that all parties are hiding their thoughts!
Macron emphasized several things at the joint press conference: ↓↓
1. France, Germany and other countries have contacted Putin, "informing President Zelensky in an absolutely transparent manner every time";
2. Europe "did not start such a war collectively" and Europe "did not go to war with the Russian people";
Third, France, Germany and other countries "will never ask Ukraine to make any concessions", and the conditions will only be proposed by the Ukrainian president under the conditions accepted by the Ukrainian people.
Macron's remarks are full of "desire to survive": secretly talking to Putin about "securing land and seeking peace" without the knowledge of Ukraine?
Europe does not bear this "pot".
Europe also has no intention of directly "fighting" with Russia.
As for how it ended, Kyiv talked about it himself, we can only "play support".
These words are not only for Zelensky, but also for Putin and even the "leading brother" on the other side of the ocean.
French President Emmanuel Macron said France and Germany will "never" negotiate behind Ukraine's back.
Image source: Ukrainian State News Agency
When supporting Ukraine as a candidate country for the EU, Macron specifically pointed out that this time the EU should consider the situation in the Balkans, "especially Moldova."
The fifth mystery has emerged. Ukraine "jumps in the queue". Will the Balkan countries be "uneasy"?
As we all know, there are still some countries in the European family who are eager to join the EU, such as those who already have the candidacy:
·Turkey
· Montenegro
·Serbia
· North Macedonia
·Albania
Among them, Turkey, the oldest, took the "reservation seat" in 1999 and has not yet "turned into a regular"; the accession negotiations between North Macedonia and Albania have also been delayed.
As for Georgia and Moldova, they tried to "borrow the east wind" to board the ship together when Ukraine applied to join the alliance when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out.
However, this time the European Commission gave the green light, and only Ukraine and Moldova, which "jumped the queue", were excluded from the relatively unstable political situation and Georgia, which lost to Russia in the 2008 conflict.
Pay attention to one detail, Romanian President Ionis "doesn't go to the Three Treasures Palace without anything", just for this reason he rushed to Kyiv.
He called for, in addition to Ukraine and Morocco, Georgia should also become a candidate country for the EU.
But from the results, his wish did not come true.
[To officially join the alliance, the road is long]
Although Ukraine and Morocco entered the EU with "half foot" this time, von der Leyen pointed out that the two countries need to implement reforms in many fields, and "there is still a lot of important work to be done".
In other words, there is still a distance of 108,000 miles between the reserve players and the regular members.
The British think tank says the process of joining the EU is complex and the standards are so high that it takes on average almost five years for candidate member states to complete the process.
European Commission President Von der Leyen.
The "Copenhagen Standard" is the gold standard for joining the European Union. It requires the applicant country to meet several conditions:
· Stable democracy, rule of law, human rights situation
· Well-functioning market economy
Accept all EU legislation etc.
Looking at the candidate countries who have been waiting for years, and looking at Ukraine, whose GDP is at the end of the European queue and is deeply in conflict, it is not difficult to figure out why Macron, Scholz and others previously predicted that Ukraine would need "five to ten years". "It may even take "decades" to officially join the alliance.
After all, the "cake" drawn by the EU is not so easy to eat!
(Finish)