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European leaders today dashed Ukraine's hopes for rapid membership in the European Union, despite strong calls from the country's President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
"It is clear to everyone that Ukraine's immediate accession to the EU is not at all possible," summed up German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in statements after the leaders' informal summit in Nicosia.
The accession of a country is "a long and very difficult process, but we cannot try to set artificial deadlines, saying it will happen in three months or in ten years," stressed Antonio Costa, President of the European Council.
In other words, Brussels is not discussing the possibility of granting “preferential treatment” or withdrawing from strict accession rules. European leaders, not wanting to be accused of favoritism by other candidate countries, insist that each of them deserves membership “on its own merits.”
"This process must be followed so that both sides know what they can rely on," recalled European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Cyprus on Thursday evening to call again for "full integration," will have to arm himself with patience.
"It took my country nine years to negotiate all this," said Costa, the former prime minister of Portugal.
At the same time, European leaders do not want to abandon Ukraine and are looking for ways to facilitate its accession, without calling into question the accession rules. “I must say clearly that Ukraine, especially in the last month, has worked hard and carried out very important reforms. And this must be rewarded by us,” von der Leyen said.
The president did not specify what kind of “reward” this would be, but other European leaders have mentioned several possibilities. Chancellor Merz, for example, spoke of Kiev’s participation in European summits “without voting rights.” European officials have also said that Ukraine could participate in some ministerial meetings or in the customs union, to facilitate its future membership.
However, Zelensky said his country does not want "symbolic advantages." Ukraine was granted candidate status in December 2023. Despite Zelensky's pressure, Viktor Orban's Hungary, which has tense relations with Kiev, has so far refused to officially start accession negotiations, chapter by chapter, thus blocking the process. Ukraine hopes that Orban's defeat in the April 12 parliamentary elections will change the situation.
However, the winner of this election, Peter Maillard, has already ruled out approving the admission of a country at war to the EU. However, he may approve the opening of the first official negotiations.
Ukraine, with the help of the European Commission, has moved forward with some of its required reforms without waiting for the official start of negotiations, hoping that this will shorten the process.
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