Ukraine will not receive special privileges or preferential terms for joining the European Union, the European Commissioner stated. She also described January 1, 2027, as an unrealistic date for Ukraine’s EU accession. This information comes from UA.NEWS, as reported by the PromPolitInform portal.
According to the European Commissioner, the integration process is based solely on the candidate country’s merits and the implementation of necessary reforms.
“Accession is merit-based: clearly, that date is impossible. There are no privileges or ‘discounts’ in the accession process, but we must take into account that Ukraine is fighting a war for survival, so it is also our duty to help it,” emphasized Marta Kos.
She added that the European Union hopes to open as many negotiating clusters as possible for Ukraine before the end of this year.
On Tuesday, October 6, the European Commission will present an updated overview of enlargement policy.
During the European Council meeting in mid-October, the bloc’s leaders will discuss four key issues:
the impact of enlargement on existing member states; internal EU reforms to ensure effective functioning with a larger number of members (specifically, a potential shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting in security and defense matters);
safeguards to ensure adherence to the rule of law and democratic principles by new members;
a concept of gradual and enhanced integration for candidate countries.
The European Commissioner emphasized that the gradual integration model does not replace full accession but allows candidates to cooperate more closely with the EU while fulfilling all requirements.
It is worth noting that, despite the European Commission’s statements ruling out shortcuts for candidates, Ukrainians themselves hold mixed views on the state’s readiness for accession.
Source: Corriere della Sera
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that the Alliance sees no immediate threat to its territory and views Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling as an attempt to divert attention from its own setbacks in Ukraine.
