When Ukraine and the European Union reached their ambitious Association Agreement in 2014, Ukrainian diplomats had to fight with EU bureaucrats for every word, in order to express the country’s desire for future membership in the bloc. This part of the agreement with euphemism looks like it has been formally reconstituted so as not to explicitly say one thing: that Ukraine can, in fact, become a member of the European Union.
In the Association Agreement, the bloc recognizes that “Ukraine as a European country shares a common history and common values with the Member States of the European Union (EU) and is committed to promoting these values.” The EU also notes “the importance that Ukraine attaches to European identity”. There is a lot to it – but not a specific membership perspective.
When you think about the price Ukraine is now paying for its efforts to forge closer ties with the EU, it is a shame. Thousands of Ukrainians are dying as their country moves away from the brutal regime in Moscow and toward a future in a freer Europe. As Russian bombs turn Ukrainian cities into rubble, the tortured prose of the Association Agreement is revealed as a document of the European Union’s cowardice.
Zelensky challenges the EU
Four days after the start of the Russian invasion, and with Russian tanks approaching the outskirts of Kiev and the capital on the outskirts, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine’s application for EU membership. Applause in the European Parliament and enthusiastic coverage of the press across the continent are not enough. Ukrainians need a vision for the future: the prospect of EU membership.
It is not just Ukraine’s application that will be discussed when EU leaders gather in Versailles on Thursday and Friday: The future of the European Union as a community of values will also be on the agenda. No nation on the continent had to pay a higher price to become a member of the European Union. Anyone who does not recognize this fact has not learned any lesson from the vicious invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The people of Ukraine are using what they have to fight for their freedom. Even when skeptics of the country’s prospects of joining the bloc reject Ukraine’s request – saying it is a purely symbolic policy in a time of crisis – the EU could not send a stronger symbol than declaring that a democratic Europe is the our common home. And for that reason, Ukraine must have a clear possible path to EU membership.
The road to full integration into the European Union is a work of generations. The necessary reconstruction of Ukraine and the possibility of a long-term occupation by Russia will make it even more difficult to see through the necessary reforms for accession to Kyiv. And yet we can not deny the people of Ukraine the prospect of a future in the European Union. The EU has a future as a credible community of values only when it does not disappoint Ukraine. The prospect of accession would be a convincing message from the EU to the Kremlin: Ukraine is neither a security zone nor the courtyard of Russia – it is part of the European family.
This article was originally written in German.
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