EU leaders to set war-torn Ukraine on road to membership
- Summit expected to accept Ukraine, Moldova as candidates to join EU
- It will be the first step on a years-long and difficult path to joining the bloc
European leaders were expected to formally accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU on Thursday, a bold geopolitical move triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but a reminder that the 27-nation bloc will need a major overhaul as it looks to enlarge again.
“History is on the march,” European Union chief executive Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday ahead of a two-day summit that will kick-start the EU’s most ambitious expansion since welcoming Eastern European states after the Cold War.
“I am not just talking about Putin’s war of aggression,” she said. “I am talking about the wind of change that once again blows across our continent. With their applications, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are telling us that they want change.”
Although it will take Ukraine and Moldova years – and perhaps more than a decade – to qualify for membership, the Brussels summit decision will be a symbolic step that signals the EU’s intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his “special military operation” launched in Ukraine in late February was partly necessitated by Western encroachment into what Russia characterises as its rightful geographical sphere of influence.
While Ukraine and neighbouring Moldova are expected to be welcomed into the EU’s waiting room in Thursday, Georgia will be given “a European perspective” but told it must fulfil conditions before winning candidate status.