Prime Minister Rob Jetten does not yet want to put a year on a date for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. He said this on Thursday before the start of an informal EU summit in Cyprus.
Just before the start of the summit, EU leaders indicated that the time was ripe to start official accession negotiations with Ukraine.
Earlier in the day the EU member states approved a loan of 90 billion euros. António Costa, President of the European Council, called “the next step the formal opening” of accession negotiations.
A lot of work
In Cyprus, Jetten stated that Ukraine belongs in the European family, but that the country ‘still has to do a lot of work’. The Netherlands is prepared to help Ukraine implement the necessary reforms, he promised. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and the Luxembourg Prime Minister also responded cautiously to the call from EU leaders.
For example, De Wever called full EU membership for Ukraine in the short term ‘not realistic’. In his view, a model for expanding Europe in different layers is an option. This could include EU membership without voting rights or without the right to agricultural subsidies, for example.
The Belgian Prime Minister believes that there is great willingness within the EU to help Ukraine with this. “The country has undergone a terrible war and also guarantees our security by fighting against Russia.” Jetten believes that ‘alternative routes should certainly be looked at for countries like Ukraine to become part of the EU family’.
Ukraine’s accession will again be on the agenda at the formal EU summit in June.
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