Negotiations are about to start: what Ukraine needs to do to join the EU

The invasion of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin (71) appears to have significantly strengthened Ukrainians’ desire to join the EU. According to a survey by Civic Synergy, a project aimed at strengthening public participation in the implementation of European integration reforms in Ukraine, 52 percent were in favor in 2018. In December 2022, in the middle of the conflict, this was already 79 percent.

Ukraine and the EU want to negotiate – but there are obstacles

On Wednesday, Ukrainian EU membership finally came a little closer: the EU recommends officially starting accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. But the road to actual EU membership could still take years. Because Ukraine still has some problems it needs to solve before it can join the EU. The biggest problem, besides the war: corruption. In 2021, Transparency International ranked Ukraine as the second most corrupt country in Europe, after Russia.

Ursula von der Leyen (65), President of the European Commission, outlined in Kiev on Saturday what Ukraine still needs to improve in this area: greater efforts in the fight against corruption are needed, as well as stricter rules for declaring assets. And thus real transparency to prevent money laundering and cartels.

And then there is the war. Ukraine faces a unique challenge as it tries to meet all these criteria listed by Ursula von der Leyen in the midst of the war. In fact, it is enshrined in the EU statutes that no country at war may join the alliance. But this war also gives new impetus to negotiations that stalled ten years ago. Moreover, Ukraine’s accession to the EU will decide not only the future of the country, but also the future attitude of the alliance towards Russia.

Accession to the EU is still a long way off

Europe must also change if it wants to accommodate Ukraine. The EU would have to adapt its structures to accommodate a new member with a large population and economic challenges. For example, Ukraine would get a large number of seats in the EU Parliament because of its large population.

But even if Ukraine meets all these criteria, the doors to Europe may remain closed to the country. Each of the 27 member states can veto the accession of another country. In the case of Ukraine, one country will probably do this: Hungary. Since the start of the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (60) has been against the admission of Ukraine and also against arms deliveries to the country.