Germany, France and Italy back EU candidate
status for Ukraine
‘Germany is in favor of a positive decision,’ said
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, adding that ‘Ukraine belongs to the European
family.’
BY HANS VON
DER BURCHARD, CLEA CAULCUTT, CHRISTOPHER MILLER AND JULES DARMANIN
June 16,
2022 5:01 pm
The leaders
of Germany, France, Italy and Romania on Thursday threw their weight behind
accepting Ukraine and Moldova as EU membership candidates, laying to rest
doubts over their stance amid Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“All four
of us support the status of immediate candidate for membership,” French
President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at a joint news conference in Kyiv,
where the leaders had traveled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He was speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister
Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
Scholz
delivered a similar conclusion: “Germany is in favor of a positive decision in
favor of Ukraine. This also applies to the Republic of Moldova,” the chancellor
said. “Ukraine belongs to the European family,” he added.
Scholz’s
statement was particularly notable since the chancellor had been more reluctant
to endorse a trajectory toward membership for Ukraine or Moldova in previous
comments.
It was
clear, however, that some conditions would be attached to candidacy for
membership.
Scholz
stressed that EU enlargement “is subject to clear criteria that must be met by
all candidates,” naming “especially democracy and the rule of law.” But he said
that while membership candidates must reform themselves, there was an equal
need for modernization on the EU’s side. “The EU needs to prepare itself and
modernize its structures and procedures,” he said, alluding to issues such as
the requirement for unanimity on important decisions such as foreign policy,
which has hampered the bloc’s ability to act and decide swiftly.
The EU will likely request strict requirements on
democratic and institutional reforms, such as the fight against corruption, as
part of the EU enlargement process. Ukraine will also probably have to first
reach a peace agreement with Russia before any talks with the EU could begin.
The
European Commission is expected to officially recommend granting Ukraine and
Moldova the membership candidacy on Friday, but it is up to EU countries to
make a final decision. EU leaders will meet in Brussels next week on Thursday
and Friday to discuss the issue.
Earlier in
the day, the European leaders had visited Irpin, the suburb northwest of Kyiv
where Russian invaders destroyed buildings and allegedly tortured and killed
civilians during weeks of occupation before Ukrainian forces pushed them out.
They discussed
the reconstruction of the town with Oleksiy Chernyshov, the Ukrainian minister
for territorial development. Stopping in front of a building covered in
graffiti which read “Make Europe not war,” Macron said: “It’s very moving to
see that.” “We will rebuild everything,” Draghi added, speaking to the press
during the visit.
In Irpin,
Macron also said that: “It’s both a heroic town because it is here that,
amongst other places, the Ukrainians stopped the Russian army that was
descending on Kyiv, so you have to imagine the heroism of the army but also of
the Ukrainian people.”
Scholz
added that Irpin is an example of “the brutality of the Russian war of
aggression, which is simply out to destroy and conquer” and of an ongoing
invasion being continued “without regard for human life.”
A French
diplomatic official told reporters that once Russia’s war is over, “a dialogue”
between Moscow and Kyiv “will be needed to find out how we build a sustainable
peace,” with security guarantees for Ukraine, and the nature of the
relationship between Ukraine and NATO.
This
article was updated.
Chris
Miller reported from Kyiv.
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