Ukraine expects EU-wide support for candidacy to join bloc

A Ukrainian official overseeing the country’s push to join the European Union said Wednesday that she’s “100%” certain all 27 EU nations will approve Ukraine’s EU candidacy during a summit this week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed similar optimism, calling it a “crucial moment” for Ukraine. Ukraine’s membership bid is the top order of business for EU leaders meeting in Brussels.

Deputy Prime Minister for European and EuroAtlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said the decision could come soon, when the leaders’ summit starts.

Stefanishyna said the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark had been skeptical about starting accession talks with Ukraine while it is fighting Russia’s invasion but are now supportive. Asked how confident she was that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate, she said: “The day before the summit starts, I can say

100%.”

The EU’s executive arm threw its weight behind Ukraine’s candidacy last week. Stefanishyna described the European Commission’s endorsement as “a game-changer” that had taken the ground out from under “the legs of those most hesitating.”

EU candidate status, which can be granted only if the existing member countries agree unanimously, is the first step toward membership. It does not provide any security guarantees or an automatic right to join the bloc.

Ukraine’s full membership will depend on whether the war-torn country can satisfy political and economic conditions. Potential newcomers need to demonstrate that they meet standards on democratic principles and must absorb 80,000 pages of rules covering everything from trade and immigration to fertilizers and the rule of law.

Stefanishyna told the AP that she think Ukraine could be an EU member within years, not the decades that some European officials have forecast.

“We’re already very much integrated in the European Union,” she said. “We want to be a strong and competitive member state, so it may take from two to 10 years.”

To help candidates, the bloc can provide technical and financial assistance. European officials have said that Ukraine has already implemented about 70% of the EU rules, norms and standards, but have also pointed to corruption and the need for deep political and economic reforms.

In a virtual talk to Canadian university students on Wednesday, Zelenskyy described the Brussels summit as “two decisive days” that he, like Stefanishyna, thinks will result in approval of Ukraine’s EU candidacy.

“That is a very crucial moment for us, for some people in my team are saying this is like going into the light from the darkness,” the Ukrainian president said through an interpreter. “In terms of our army and society, this is a big motivator, a big motivational factor for the unity and victory of the Ukrainian people.”

In other developments:

Zelenskyy said Russian forces carried out heavy air and artillery strikes in the eastern Donbas.

Russian forces captured three villages in the Luhansk region, one of two that make up the Donbas, Gov. Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press.

French armed forces conducted a surprise military exercise in Estonia, deploying more than 100 paratroopers in the Baltic country.

WE’RE ALREADY VERY MUCH INTEGRATED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna