A European Union report in the coming days will reveal that Ukraine has met two of seven conditions to start membership talks, two EU sources told Reuters. At the same time, the European Commission intends to highlight Ukraine’s progress despite the Russian invasion.
The European Union granted Ukraine official candidate status for membership a year ago, four months after Russia attacked Ukraine, in part to prevent its integration into the West.
At the same time, the European Union set seven conditions for Ukraine, including the reform of the judicial system and the fight against corruption, in order to start negotiations on joining the alliance. Kyiv has called on Brussels to start negotiations this year.
The forthcoming European Commission report is a step in this process, which, as supporters of Ukraine’s early EU membership hope, will culminate in a decision to start negotiations with Kiev in December this year.
Two senior EU officials familiar with the as-yet-unpublished report said Ukraine had so far met two of the seven conditions. One of the officials noted that Kiev had met the conditions related to judicial reform and the media law, and added that the report focused on the positive aspects.
“There is progress. The report will be moderately positive,” Reuters news agency quoted its source as saying. “It is not a question of embellishing reality, but of recognizing the progress that has been made. For example, we can cite well-known cases of the fight against corruption.
Ukraine has seen historic anti-corruption events in recent months, including the arrest of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on suspicion of accepting a $2.7 million bribe.
In addition to strengthening the fight against corruption, other criteria are reforms of the Constitutional Court and law enforcement agencies, measures to combat money laundering, as well as laws aimed at limiting the influence of the oligarchs and to protect the rights of national minorities.
Another Reuters source, also an EU official familiar with the bloc’s recommendations on Ukraine’s legal reform, added: Aspects that need improvement. All is not satisfactory.
The agency’s source said that Ukraine has appointed new heads of the specialized anti-corruption prosecutor’s office and the national anti-corruption office, as required. At the same time, the anti-oligarchic law, among others, is insufficient.
The report, which is an interim update before a more formal assessment in October, will be shared on Wednesday June 21 with national representatives of the European Union in Brussels, where it is headquartered, and then on Thursday at the ministerial meeting of the EU in Stockholm.
The 27 EU member states will have to make the final decision on whether to start negotiations with Kyiv on joining the bloc. And if they start, countries will also have to decide when.
In order to comply with European Union requirements, Ukraine needs to align its legislation with many EU standards, covering areas such as climate and labor relations. In practice, Ukraine’s path to membership could take years, and few believe the country can join the European bloc while at war with Russia.
Ukraine’s neighbors on the eastern flank of the European Union, such as Poland and the Baltic states, are generally in favor of speeding up the process for Kiev, while western EU members, including France , Germany and the Netherlands, are more reserved about the idea.
Read the Ukraine War News Latest Today on The Eastern Herald.
