Quick-tracking membership for Kiev would indicate some candidates are “extra equal than others,” Alexander Schallenberg has warned
The EU can not afford to prioritize Ukraine’s accession to the bloc whereas neglecting different long-standing candidacies, Austrian Overseas Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned on Friday.
Talking on Politico’s EU Confidential podcast, Schallenberg mentioned that whereas he believes Ukraine and neighboring Moldova belong within the “European household,” the EU should rigorously think about its enlargement coverage.
“We are able to’t have Ukraine on the fast-track and the opposite nations on the service line. That can be a geostrategic catastrophe,” the minister claimed. Referencing George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Animal Farm’, Schallenberg careworn that that EU ought to keep away from a system through which some nations “are extra equal than others.”
The Austrian minister famous that the EU had promised membership to Western Balkan nations round 20 years in the past, however had did not ship on that pledge. He urged Brussels to “put its cash the place its mouth is” and drop “binary considering” about membership, suggesting candidate nations must be allowed some participation in EU deliberations and actions.
“We can not wait. As a result of if we wait, we would lose these areas. We’d lose Ukraine once more… and the Western Balkans,” Schallenberg warned. He added that if the EU couldn’t show its credibility in its personal neighborhood, it might not be capable to play any vital function globally.
Ukraine declared its aspirations to affix the EU as a nationwide strategic purpose a number of years in the past, however solely formally utilized for membership in late February 2022, days after Russia launched its navy marketing campaign within the nation. Moldova adopted Ukraine a number of days later, and each Kiev and Chisinau have been granted EU candidate standing in June of the identical 12 months.
Nevertheless, EU officers have refused to set particular deadlines for Ukraine’s accession, saying that it should handle points akin to rampant corruption in addition to introduce complete authorized reforms.
Moldova’s membership bid has been sophisticated by the unresolved situation of its breakaway republic of Transnistria.
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