Ukraine's membership bid puts pressure on the European Union: a security policy flanking, not a revision of EU enlargement policy, is advisable

Abstract

As Russian tanks and artillery advanced on Kharkiv and Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an application to join the European Union. He called for a special admission procedure to secure swift accession for Ukraine, yet Ukraine did not first aspire to EU membership under missile fire. Much like Moldova and Georgia, it sees its current status of association with the EU as a precursor to accession. The 28 Feb­ruary application was a call for help from the dreadful war. Initial responses from the European Commission and the European Parliament indicated much political sym­pathy for Ukraine’s urgent call, but the EU leaders do not hold forth the prospect of swift accession. This restraint results from the experience that membership negotiations are generally challenging and protracted and that there are no short cuts to the goal. There are, indeed, EU interests that run counter to an explicit memership per­spective. The EU should in any case add a security component flanking its policy of integration and cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries. (author's abstract)