According to reports, on the evening of the 23rd local time, European Council President Michel announced that the EU summit on the same day agreed to approve Ukraine and Moldova as EU candidate countries. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy posted on social media that this is a unique historical moment in Ukraine's relations with the EUROPEAN Union, and he thanked the EU leaders for their support.
Ukraine's eu candidate status is reportedly tantamount to entering the "fast lane," which is "bad news" for the Western Balkan countries and makes them feel even more marginalized. Albanian Prime Minister Hama issued a message to Ukraine on the 23rd not to have "illusions" about quickly joining the European Union. Several Western Balkan countries, including Albania, have been granted EU candidate status for many years and have not yet joined the EU. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kalibashvili said the eu parliament's candidacy proposal is not based on strength but is driven by the current geopolitical situation surrounding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Garibashvili said the European Commission's "emotional" approach to his country's candidacy was disappointing.
Becoming a candidate is only the first step
EU official: It is impossible to predict the official accession time
According to reports, becoming a candidate for the EU is actually only the first formal step to join the EU, and procedures such as accession negotiations are also needed. This link requires the consent of all Member States before negotiations can begin, which is often not easy. There are reports that no new country has joined the EU in the last 10 years since Croatia joined the EU in July 2013.
The time it takes for Member States to submit their applications and formally join the EU
It is reported that before that, Turkey, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro have all obtained the status of "EU candidate countries". But these five countries have not yet been able to formally join the EU after years of waiting.
Among them, Turkey submitted an application as early as 1987, was granted candidate status in 1999, and began accession negotiations in 2005, but due to its differences of views with Western countries, its accession process has almost stalled. North Macedonia was granted candidate status in 2005, Albania was granted candidate status in 2014, and the European Council agreed to enter the union with North Macedonia and Albania in March 2020, but thanks to Bulgaria's blockage, negotiations have not yet begun. Montenegro and Serbia began accession negotiations in 2012 and 2014 respectively, but neither country has made much progress in the accession process.
It is reported that the negotiations between the candidate countries and the EU will involve reforms in a number of areas to ensure that the candidate countries can meet the RULES, regulations and standards of the EU in a wide range of fields such as the economy and the rule of law. Candidate countries, on the other hand, can only formally become EU members after full agreement with all EU member states on all areas of involvement.
The main process of joining the EU
The time for a candidate country to become a full EU member depends entirely on the speed and process of negotiations, according to reports. The data shows that the countries with the shortest time to join the EU are Sweden and Finland, and it takes only about 3 years from filing an application to becoming a full member. In addition to the six start-up member states, seven of the eu's other 21 member states took more than 10 years from filing their application to full membership, while the longest-running Cyprus and Malta took almost 14 years.
The EU has never awarded "candidate country" status to a country in a conflict zone before, and some officials believe that Ukraine's accession process will be largely unmatched until the conflict ends. EU officials analyzed that just as it is impossible to predict how long the conflict will end, we cannot predict how soon Ukraine will officially become a member of the EU.
Giving Ukraine the "Green Light"
Other candidates: feeling "frustrated"
As for whether the EU should be expanded, members of the EU also have their own views. According to reports, some EU countries, led by Germany, believe that "EU enlargement" is deserved and a geopolitical necessity. It is reported that German Chancellor Scholz previously pointed out that the EU should be prepared for expansion. He also pointed out that in order for the Coalition to play a greater role, the principle of "majority voting" should be adopted on key issues, rather than requiring unanimous adoption.
On 21 May 2021, the EU flag flew outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
However, it has also been reported that in recent years, EU countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark, have expressed doubts about "EU enlargement" and believe that ways should be sought to slow the entry of new members into the EU. Sources pointed out that some EU countries believe that some countries may superficially meet the criteria for joining the EU, but in fact do not really meet the EU requirements. Some officials have even privately questioned whether Western Balkan countries, including Albania, have the ability to meet EU requirements.
Leaders of Western Balkan countries such as Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia reportedly met with their EU counterparts during the summit, and these EU officials allegedly had reservations about EU enlargement, which slowed the process of western Balkan countries joining the EU and also increased their "frustration". Although at the meeting on the same day, the EU 27 leaders once again conveyed to the Western Balkan countries that the EU still attaches importance to the region, but Ukraine has become a candidate country in the short term, exacerbating the "feeling of exclusion" of the Western Balkan countries.
Albanian Prime Minister Hama bluntly said, "For Ukraine, it may be a good thing to get candidate status, but I remind them not to have too many illusions about joining the European Union quickly." At a press conference held after the meeting, Rama said he felt "very sorry" about the EU's inaction in promoting the "accession" of western Balkan countries.
Prime Minister of Albania Rama
The Western Balkan countries are now worried about the process of "eu-entry" and have a "sense of disillusionment.". In Serbia, the enthusiasm for joining the European Union has been gradually extinguished, and according to a poll in April, 44% of people are now opposed to joining the EU and 35% are in favor of joining the EU, according to a poll in April.
Kovac, head of a serbian nonprofit focused on pushing the country's accession to the European Union, said North Macedonia and Albania had every reason to be uneasy, referring to "the stagnation of the negotiation process between some countries and the EU." It is reported that North Macedonia even changed the name of the country for this purpose, but it is still waiting as an EU candidate to open the accession negotiations. Kovac believes that granting Ukraine candidate status is not good news at a standstill in the negotiating process for other candidate countries. Anton, from anti-corruption watchdog Cohu, believes that if the "accession" process of the Western Balkan countries is constantly delayed, they may readjust their policies and will be "farther and farther away" from the EU.
In addition, officials in the Western Balkan countries say the EU now imposes too many conditions on candidate countries and the corresponding returns are few. A senior EU official who attended the meeting also said that there are many EU officials who think we can keep putting conditions on the Western Balkan countries as candidate countries, and then let them (these countries) complete the conditions and come back. "But it won't work, and these countries may at some point give up joining the EU." The official said.
Just a "PR gimmick"?
Russian media: Turkey is a "lesson from the past"
"The EU grants Ukraine candidate status as if you were introducing your suspicious partner to your parents. Your parents may have a fake smile on their faces, but they know you won't make it to the end. And worse, you even explain to them that you can change him/her. Some media described the EU's grant of candidate status to Ukraine as a "public relations stunt." In fact, a number of EU leaders have previously said that even if Ukraine becomes a candidate country, it is still far from becoming a full member of the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that everyone knows that the whole process will take several years to complete. In fact, it is likely to take decades.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously said Ukraine could take decades to join the European Union. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croix said granting Ukraine candidacy was "important symbolic message," though he warned that Ukraine's true membership in the EU would require "many years" and "a great deal of reform." He noted that Ukraine must undergo a series of changes to meet EU standards and that its road to joining the EU is "bumpy". European Commission President von der Leyen has also said that "in the Commission's view, Ukraine clearly demonstrates its desire and determination to meet European standards". But she also acknowledged that Ukraine would have to "make some important reforms."
The report pointed out that Ukraine's existing "Nazi" problem and rampant corruption will become an obstacle to its entry into the European Union. European experts from the Atlantic Council have said corruption means that Ukraine will lose peace. There are also Western experts who believe that Western countries are helping Ukraine "whitewash" its corruption problems.
The report also said that although Ukraine is now very popular with Western countries, this does not mean that it can quickly join the European Union. Turkey was mentioned--- one is a member of NATO, but has not been able to become a full member of the European Union for decades. The report believes that the EU has so quickly granted Ukraine the status of a candidate country, which is undoubtedly a "slap in the face" of Turkey. Turkey has allowed NATO and EU countries to establish military bases on its borders and helped Europe solve many refugee problems, but this is not enough for Brussels. Asked this week about ankara's progress in joining the European Union, von der Leyen replied that "there is no progress.". For many years, the EUROPEAN Union has been delaying Turkey's accession process on the grounds of a "human rights record," and Ukraine is likely to stall the accession process for the same reason.
Red Star News reporter Li Jinrui
Edited by Guo Yu
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