European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Koss called on the member states of the European Union to open the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine’s accession to the EU in June, with the remaining five clusters to follow in July. Koss announced this on May 26 during a speech in Brussels.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Prospects for Associated Membership and Security in Europe
In response to a question about the possibility of implementing so-called “associated” membership for Ukraine as an intermediate step before full integration, the European Commissioner expressed her positive stance. She emphasized that discussions around this issue are timely and important for preparing for actions after peace is established.
“I am very pleased that discussions are ongoing, as we must be ready for how we will respond when peace comes. And this time leading up to peace is truly an opportunity for everyone involved in security issues in Europe, as well as everyone working on the enlargement process, to be engaged in this work.”
According to Koss, the political leadership of the EU is showing increasing interest in such debates. She highlighted that previous stages of EU enlargement involved the European community helping candidates prepare for membership. However, the war in Ukraine has changed the approaches: now Ukraine is capable of enhancing the security of the European Union, which is a new aspect in terms of its future integration.
EU Leaders’ Initiatives Regarding Ukraine’s Membership
The Chancellor of Germany proposed to introduce “innovative solutions” for Ukraine on its path to EU membership. As stated in a letter sent by Friedrich Merz to the heads of the European Commission, the European Council, and the President of Cyprus, who currently holds the presidency of the EU Council, among such solutions is the idea of associated membership as a temporary step towards Ukraine’s full Euro-integration.
In Merz’s opinion, this approach could serve as an incentive for peace negotiations, which are currently in a difficult situation. He emphasized that the proposal takes into account the special circumstances in which Ukraine finds itself and should contribute to the formation of sustainable peace. The discussion of the initiative is planned for the next EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on June 18-19.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the proposals for associated membership, emphasized that Ukraine seeks full participation in the European Union, rather than interim formats of cooperation.