Several European leaders want to speed up talks with Ukraine about joining the European Union, now that they feel that the tide is turning. With the impending departure of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the biggest obstructionist has disappeared from the scene.
That optimism was fueled after the 27 EU countries agreed on Thursday to a joint loan of 90 billion euros to Ukraine and a new round of sanctions against Russia. Both were vetoed by Hungary in recent weeks.
Orbán will formally be Prime Minister for a few more days or weeks, but for many colleagues it already feels as if a new era has begun for Europe and Ukraine. Péter Magyar, Orbán’s successor, has said he will pursue a more constructive stance in the EU.
“Now the time is ripe to look ahead to (…) the next step,” said António Costa, the president of the European Council, on the eve of an EU summit in the Cypriot coastal town of Ayia Napa. Together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Costa praised “the significant progress Ukraine has made on its EU accession path.”
Together they called for negotiations with Ukraine to begin “without delay.” Ukraine became a candidate member of the EU in 2022 shortly after the Russian invasion. However, negotiations never started, again due to a veto by Hungary. During these negotiations, numerous topics are discussed in sets, so-called clusters.
“We are ready to start the clusters,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was also in Cyprus on Thursday to attend a meeting with EU leaders. “And I think the EU is also ready to support us in this.”
“All conditions are met to start the first clusters in the coming weeks and months (…),” an EU official summarized the conversation Zelensky had with his colleagues in Cyprus.
Long way to go
Even if all EU countries indeed agree to the start of the talks, Ukraine is still far away from actual membership. Accession talks usually take many years, and Ukraine will still have to implement many reforms.
For example, many European capitals are very concerned about corruption and poverty in the country. Ukraine is so large and poor that the costs are high: many net recipients in the EU will become net payers. A proposal to have the country join next year is a hopeless suggestion, several government leaders in Cyprus reiterated. Attempts by Costa to speed up the negotiations, for example by starting them despite vetoes, previously met with resistance, including from the Netherlands.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever pushed for a kind of membership light on Thursday evening: “Perhaps a model will be developed to expand Europe in different layers.” Such a ‘multi-speed Europe’ has been suggested many times. In such a scenario, for example, Ukraine would not have the same veto power or less access to subsidies.
Rob Jetten also showed himself willing to think about “alternative routes”. “We have seen in the past that we made countries full members too early and that we all paid the price for that,” said the Dutch Prime Minister. “That may also require a little creativity.”
Zelensky had actually said that he would strive for such a full membership. “Ukraine is defending itself and is also defending Europe. And that defense is not symbolic: people are really dying,” said the Ukrainian president. “I believe we deserve full membership of the European Union.”
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković reminded the press that his country, the youngest EU member, had gone through negotiations “relatively quickly” and still took six years to join in 2013.
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