Senior European Union officials arrived in Kyiv today for a high-level show of support following renewed pledges of military assistance as the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches.

“This is a very strong signal that we are in Kyiv in the middle of a war. This is a message to the Ukrainian people. This is a message to Russia. This is a message to the world,” a senior EU official said earlier.

Today, Thursday, high-ranking members of the commission will meet with their counterparts in the government of Ukraine. On Friday, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, will meet with President Zelensky.

This is the first meeting in the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war on February 24, 2022. Two weeks have passed in which the West has promised Ukraine major deliveries of new weapons to help it deal with an expected new Russian offensive. Moscow denounced these Western commitments as a provocation.

The allies will discuss sending even more weapons and money to Ukraine, expanding access of Ukrainian products to the EU market, helping the country meet its energy needs, imposing new sanctions on Russia, prosecuting Moscow’s leadership in connection with the war, and expanding mobile phone roaming. zone in the EU to Ukraine.

And while the EU supports Ukraine and democratic and economic reforms in the country, Kyiv’s hopes for immediate entry into the Union “27” did not come true, reports Reuters.

But why did this happen?

Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said he wants Ukraine to join the European Union in two years, while a liberal Belgian MEP said he dreams of it in the next five years. In reality, the process of joining is likely to take much longer.

What happened to other countries?

The last country to join the EU. it was Croatia in 2013, ten years after the official request was made. Ukraine’s neighbor Poland took 20 years to join in 2004.

Ukraine applied for membership shortly after the February 24, 2022 invasion and received official EU candidate status last June in what has been called a bold geopolitical move.

To be accepted, Ukraine must meet broad criteria of political stability, including democratic institutions that guarantee the rule of law and human rights, and economic ability to withstand international competition.

Ukraine will have to adapt its national legislation to the EU’s vast legal models, from climate to labor and health, among other things.

While the EU acknowledges the progress made so far, it stresses that Ukraine needs to do more to build a credible track record in fighting endemic corruption.

In addition, the EU highlights the reforms needed to ensure that the courts are free from political interference and that the rights of minorities are respected in Ukraine.

The entry criteria do not specifically state that a belligerent country cannot join the EU, but the Union does not want to introduce territorial conflicts. However, this allowed Cyprus to join in 2004, despite the fact that Nicosia has not controlled the entire island since Turkey invaded in 1974.

Turkey, a NATO ally, has held its own EU accession talks. have unfolded in recent years as President Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on critics following a 2016 coup attempt undermined democracy in the country and strained relations with 27.

The talks began in 2005, after decades of Turkey’s push to formally enter the EU, and coincide with Erdogan’s first economic reforms as prime minister since 2003, which have made Ankara a major emerging market and trading partner.

Ukraine and… a divided EU

For a country to be admitted, all EU countries must agree. Ukraine, in addition to meeting difficult criteria, must also overcome the reluctance of many founding states, including France and the Netherlands, to expand the Union further east.

EU enlargement talks have been on hold since 2018 as current members cannot agree on accepting additional candidate countries such as Albania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Serbia.

The Union was also divided over granting official candidate country status to other states such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Georgia.

Ukraine, with a population of about 44 million, will become the fifth largest country in the EU. after Germany, France, Italy and Spain, which will give her great influence on the decisions of the Union.

Source: Reuters.