A day after pledging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their unwavering support, the European Union on Friday came face to face with one of its worst political headaches on a key commitment — how and when to welcome destitute and battered Ukraine into the bloc.
And immediately, a rift became evident: between those who want to draw Kyiv and other aspiring nations in as quickly as possible, and others that want the bloc to bide its time, setting up difficult talks on an issue that requires unanimity among the 27 member states.
Most EU nations have said since the February 2022 start of the war that they would work steadfastly on a “lasting unity” with Ukraine that would eventually translate into Kyiv’s membership in the wealthy bloc. Now, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, ever the recalcitrant voice at summits, insisted the whole idea would have to be rethought from scratch.
“We have never done an enlargement to the country which is in a war. And we don’t know where are the effective borders, how many people are living there,” Orbán said as he arrived at the EU summit in Granada. “Sorry, it’s painful to get these countries in the EU.”
Ukraine deserves to be in the EU, but they’ve a long way to go, and its not just the war. They have a vast corruption problem which needs fixing before becoming one with the other EU nations. The EU should start a process that ties progress on that, to getting nearer to EU membership.
I think the corruption problem in Ukraine needs to be brought front and center.
Everyone who is corrupt in Ukraine is responsible for keeping them out of NATO and subsequently allowing Russia to invade.
Once it becomes apparent to these people that their corruption is killing them, maybe they’ll start holding each other accountable and punishing corruption accordingly.