Some EU nations baulk at push to advance Ukraine's membership bid

London

SEVERAL western European Union (EU) countries are pushing back against calls for the bloc to grant Ukraine so-called candidate status this week, a first step on the long road to EU membership, said several diplomats.

Germany, the Netherlands and others first want the EU's executive arm to deliver its opinion on Ukraine's readiness for the membership process before taking a political decision, said the diplomats, describing private discussions taking place ahead of a summit in France this week. Those countries want to focus on delivering practical support to Ukraine and ending the war rather than embarking on a process that could take at least a decade, one of the diplomats said. Countries in favour of the proposal argue that it would be symbolically important for EU leaders to put their weight behind Ukraine's bid, even if the membership process itself remains long and complicated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky formally applied to join the EU at the end of last month and 9 member states from central and eastern Europe, led by Poland and the 3 Baltic nations, have publicly called on the bloc to grant Ukraine candidate status and start the accession process.

EU leaders are due to discuss Ukraine's request when they meet over 2 days starting Thursday (Mar 10). The leaders could decide to back Ukraine's candidate status and start the long process of negotiating full membership, buy time by punting the issue to the European Commission, or they could find a compromise position, such as recognising that Ukraine has a long-term relationship with the EU without formally backing its candidate status. "There is still a long path ahead. We have to end this war. And we should talk about the next steps," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week to the European Parliament. "But nobody can doubt that a people that stands up so bravely for our European values belongs in our European family."

Leaders at the summit may ask the commission to opine on Ukraine's candidacy faster than usual, in a show of political support for Kyiv, EU diplomats said. The process usually lasts between 15 and 18 months. BLOOMBERG