Greece and the Republic of Cyprus supported Ukraine’s accession to the European Union (EU), but criticized the proposal to speed up this procedure. This was announced on Friday, May 27, by the Euractiv media platform.
“There are no reasonable grounds for admitting Ukraine to the EU in an expedited manner”
“According to sources in the Greek Foreign Ministry, the position of Athens is that all procedures provided for in Article 49 of the EU Treaty must be followed. <…> As for Cyprus, <…> If everyone expresses unanimous approval, the republic will agree with the proposal to grant Ukraine candidate status. However, <…> the process of joining will be lengthy,” the publication says.
The mentioned article of the Treaty on the European Union states that the agreement between the Member States of the EU and the applicant country is subject to ratification by all States participating in the European Union in accordance with the constitutional rules of each of them.
Earlier, on May 25, the Austrian Foreign Minister commented on the prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. He stressed that integration is likely to be gradual. However, the European Union did not give Kyiv guarantees on this issue, and therefore has no specific obligations, he added.
On May 23, Jakub Kumoch, head of the International Policy Bureau of the Office of the Polish President, said that a number of Western countries are blocking granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate. However, he noted that all of Central and Eastern Europe will be able to “break the resistance of several countries” on this issue. Kumoch also said that the President of Poland Andrzej Duda at the economic forum in Davos will lobby for granting Ukraine the appropriate status.
The day before, Minister Delegate to the French Foreign Ministry for European Affairs, Clement Bon, suggested that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union could drag on for several decades, taking into account the requirements that the EU imposes on applicant states.
On May 19, the Federation Council recommended that Ukrainians say goodbye to illusions about Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and focus on correcting the situation within the country.
At the same time, on May 17, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that Ukraine’s application for EU membership, which Zelensky signed on February 28, would be considered in June this year.
At the end of July 2021, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved a foreign policy strategy that provides for a course towards joining the European Union and NATO and is aimed at countering Russia’s policy.