Ukraine officially becomes EU candidate country, waiting country reminds 'don't have illusions'

Ukraine officially becomes EU candidate country, waiting country reminds 'don't have illusions' https://whatchinareads.com/article/?uid=783888c8f3c111ec9897c7030b3aab5e

2022-06-24: [Article Link]  Reporter: Angel On 23 June, local time, EU leaders agreed at the EU summit to approve Ukraine and Moldova as EU candidates and Georgia as potential candidates. It is rare for Ukraine and Moldova to have been able to obtain candidate status in such a short period of time since Ukraine and three other countries formally submitted their applications for EU membership at the end of February this year. But becoming an EU candidate is only a first step on the long way to the EU. Turkey, which gained EU candidate status in 1999, has not yet joined the EU. At the EU summit on Thursday, Albania and Northern Macedonia, which have been EU candidates for many years, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the pace of their accession. Albanian Prime Minister Rama even warned Ukraine not to be fancied. EU request On Thursday, the President of the European Council, Michel, wrote on Twitter, calling Ukraine and Moldova “a historic moment” as candidates for the European Union, while the President of the European Commission, Von der Lain, referred to the day as “a good day for Europe”. Ukraine’s President Zelensky identified Ukraine’s future as “in the EU” and thanked the EU 27 for their support. When calling for EU assistance last March, Zelensky named some of the countries that he considered inadequate. In his statement this Thursday, Zelensky named Germany and Hungary, thanking both countries for their side of Ukraine and, in particular, the two Prime Ministers. In addition to the celebrations, EU leaders also approved a series of accession negotiations set out by the European Commission for Ukraine and Moldova, requiring both countries to undertake reforms before the negotiation process can begin. In the case of Ukraine, the European Union called for the reform of anti-corruption bodies and the Supreme Court, ensuring the rights of minorities, and implementing anti-oligarchy bills. In the case of Moldova, the European Union asked the country to step up its efforts to combat corruption, strengthen the independence of the judiciary, improve the protection of human rights and combat organized crime. Moldova, with a population of only 2.6 million, is located between Ukraine and Romania, and is also a former Soviet country. Similar to Ukraine, Moldova is divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western groups, which have fought for a long time. Image source: Google Map Before the European Commission last week recommended to member States the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, there was disagreement among EU countries as to whether Ukraine and Moldova were eligible to become candidates. The three Baltic countries close to Russia, Poland, and Ukraine joined the European Union, while Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands, on the other side of the European continent, were reluctant to grant Ukraine EU candidate status. Although the 27 countries finally agreed, on Thursday, the Prime Minister of Belgium, De Kro, stated that Ukraine's candidacy for the European Union was primarily “symmetrical”. He cautioned that being a candidate did not mean that Ukraine would soon become a member of the European Union and that full accession would take “many years”. The second stage of accession negotiations is the most complex and time-consuming. Candidate countries must meet the Copenhagen criteria, have stable democratic institutions, a functioning market economy, and laws compatible with EU law. The accession negotiations are usually divided into 35 chapters, each of which starts after the end of the previous chapter. The areas covered include tax policy, fiscal policy, agriculture, transport, public procurement, etc. Before Ukraine and Moldova, five countries, Albania, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey, had been waiting for many years as candidates for the European Union and had not yet been able to join it. Turkey submitted its application in 1987, obtained EU candidate status in 1999 and began accession negotiations only in 2005, which have now been suspended. Albania submitted its application in 2009 and became an EU candidate in 2014 and has not yet begun accession negotiations. Germany, France and Italy had previously suggested that the EU would need to modify the EU treaty rules before joining new members. In Ukraine, for example, because of its relatively large population (over 41 million), accession to the EU would be the fifth or sixth largest member. This would also mean that Ukraine would occupy more seats in the European Parliament, which would undoubtedly have an impact on EU decision-making. French President Macron claims that Ukraine’s eventual accession to the EU will take years, even decades. And European Union officials believe that, in the most optimistic circumstances, Ukraine will have to wait until 2024 to start its accession negotiations. Protests in the Western Balkans For the long wait, other EU candidates have already spoken to remind Ukraine. The Prime Minister of Albania, Rama, welcomed Ukraine as a candidate at the EU summit on Thursday, but warned Ukraine “don't harbour too much illusion”. On Thursday, prior to the approval of Ukraine and Moldova as EU candidates, EU leaders debated for the most part the progress of the accession process in Albania and Northern Macedonia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina's application for EU membership. Owing to too much controversy, European Council President Michel also temporarily revised the agenda of the summit, postponing the vote on Ukraine and Moldova until the evening. Albania and Northern Macedonia have been waiting for years to start accession negotiations. Northern Macedonia won candidate status in 2005, earlier than Albania in 2014. In March 2020, the European Council agreed to start accession negotiations with both countries, which have not yet begun owing to the opposition of member States, Bulgaria. Bulgaria has a long history of disputes with northern Macedonia over history, language, and the rights of Bulgarians in northern Macedonia. The EU has also tied Albania’s accession to northern Macedonia, leaving the two countries without any progress to date. In the debate on Thursday, Bulgaria remains opposed to the EU’s opening of accession negotiations with northern Macedonia. Prime Minister Kovacevsky of northern Macedonia condemned this action as a serious breach of the EU’s credibility, while Albanian Prime Minister Rama accused the EU of “incompetence” and a fundamental unwillingness to include new members. There are differences within the European Union as to whether to continue to include new members. Western European countries with better economies are concerned that bringing countries that have not met the criteria into the European Union will put additional pressure on the EU’s fiscal budget and may also trigger a wave of migration to Western Europe. Some Western European countries argue that the EU was too hasty to absorb Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. The massive immigration to the United Kingdom following their accession to the EU has also exacerbated British dissatisfaction with the EU. The last country to join the EU was Croatia, which joined in 2013. It took Croatia nine years to become a full member from the candidate country. To date, it has taken the shortest time between the submission of an application and formal accession to the EU, approximately three years for Finland and Sweden, and nearly 14 years for Cyprus and Malta to become a member of the EU.