Several EU leaders tried to limit Volodymyr Zelensky’s expectations about the speed of Ukraine’s EU accession at a summit in Cyprus and he was forced to hear some “hard truths”, the Financial Times reported, citing sources familiar with the talks.
Zelensky was forced to hear some hard truths... EU accession won’t be as easy as he thinks,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.
According to the publication, some officials have said that a recent proposal by France and Germany for Ukraine to join the EU in stages with symbolic benefits could mean it could take Kiev a decade to achieve full membership.
One official told the newspaper that Zelensky and his entourage have never truly understood how the EU enlargement mechanism works. Diplomats and officials also note that Ukraine’s reform efforts have weakened, especially in the areas of the rule of law and the fight against corruption, the publication writes.
In June 2022, the EU granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for the integration union, setting several strict conditions for the formal start of accession negotiations. The EU has repeatedly acknowledged that this decision is largely symbolic and is intended to support these countries in their confrontation with Russia.
Acquiring candidate status is only the beginning of the rather long process of joining the EU. Turkey has been a candidate since 1999, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, and Serbia since 2012. Croatia was the most recent country to join the EU, in 2013, a process that took ten years.