EU summit ends Ukraine's hopes for rapid accession have been dashed
Zelenskiy originally thought that Ukraine's accession to NATO was completely out of play, but secondly, joining the European Union should not be a big problem. After all, he thinks the EU has been standing up for Ukraine, after all, Ukraine is so miserable now. He did not expect that Ukraine was still being "played".
On March 11, after the eu summit attended by the leaders of 27 member states, it was announced that the EU would strengthen cooperation and liaison with Ukraine, but would not quickly accept Ukraine as an EU member.
A statement from the EU's Versailles summit on Friday morning (March 11) said: "Ukraine is part of the European family. "But after repeated consultations among the member states, they still failed to reach a consensus on accepting Ukraine's accession to the EU as soon as possible."
The EU summit, attended by the leaders of 27 member states, came to an end
German Chancellor Schoelz and the leaders of other member states have simply pledged to strengthen contacts with Ukraine in the future, deepen partnerships and support Ukraine's efforts to integrate into the European community. Referring to Ukraine's application for accession on February 28 this year, the summit statement said: "The Council of the European Union took immediate action and asked the European Commission to express its position on Ukraine's application for accession as soon as possible in accordance with the EU agreement." Before the European Commission's statement, the EU will immediately deepen its partnership with Ukraine and provide support for Ukraine's European integration development path. "
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Schoartz at the EU summit in Versailles.
The road to accession is long and bumpy
The EU's reasons for not approving it are also very sufficient, and the procedure is complicated.
After Russia's conflict with Ukraine, Ukrainian President Želensky submitted an application to the European Union last week. But the approval process for EU membership is lengthy and complex. Even after the European Commission has made a positive assessment of this application for accession, the process of initiating accession negotiations will be an extremely lengthy process, as accession negotiations must be approved by all member states before they can be formally initiated.
Ukraine, for its part, wants the EU to speed up the approval process. Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, Melinik, told German media: "We are not expecting to receive special treatment and become a member of the European Union tomorrow. But we hope to be able to complete the accession process in a few years by shortcut. "
The EU and Ukraine signed a joint agreement in 2017, deciding to deepen bilateral cooperation in the political and economic fields. In addition to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have also submitted applications to join the European Union.
No special treatment!
Dutch Prime Minister Rutte stressed after the summit that there will be no quick way for the accession process, given that there are still other countries waiting for the outcome of the accession process. He said: "Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia and other countries have been waiting for a long time to start the accession process, and now if there is an exception, it will undoubtedly be a face-punching act for the above countries." "
On the issue of the accession of the countries of the western Balkans to the European Union, the Netherlands is one of several hesitant countries within the European Union. Croatian Prime Minister Prankovic also said of Ukraine's desire to join the European Union quickly: "No country should want to complete the procedures for joining the European Union overnight." "
Pledged to help Ukrainian refugees
Although the EU did not approve Ukraine's membership, it did not give a lot of promises. Especially in terms of receiving refugees, you know, the refugee problem is now a big problem for EU countries.
EU leaders pledged to help refugees from Ukraine in all aspects. "The EU and its member states will continue to maintain solidarity with Ukraine and will provide humanitarian, medical and financial support to refugees and host countries," the EU summit statement said. "
At the same time, the EU has issued an appeal to Russia to guarantee unimpeded access to humanitarian aid in order to provide assistance to war refugees in Ukraine and safe passage for refugees fleeing. "Russia must comply fully with its obligations under the norms of humanitarian international law," the statement said. "
The EU has pledged to provide more humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hamburg, Germany.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2.3 million Ukrainians have fled the country and another 2 million have fled the country since the war broke out on February 24. The European Union has already decided last week that it will grant all Ukrainian refugees a minimum of one year of fast-track asylum. These refugees will be able to move freely within the EU, they will be granted work permits and entitled to health care, housing and children's education.
Arms assistance and post-war reconstruction
The Ukrainian army will receive more weapons and equipment from the EU. Sources from the European Union said that during the summit of eu foreign affairs commissioner Borel, he suggested that leaders of various countries raise a further half a billion euros to provide more weapons to Ukraine.
At the end of February, the European Union had reached a consensus on a half-billion euro aid package, which was planned to come from the so-called European Peace Fund. This is a new financial lending mechanism established by the European Union, which can also be used to help partner countries increase their military capabilities. In the 2021-2027 budget period, the peace-specific fund will have around €5 billion.
EU member states have also pledged to provide Ukraine with further political, financial, material and humanitarian assistance. The EU summit statement said: "We will not leave Ukraine isolated. In addition to this, the EU also said that after the end of Russia's aggression, the EU is willing to help Ukraine's democratic reconstruction.
Faced with these pledges, Zelenskiy didn't know what to think.