The European Commission will recommend granting Ukraine official status as an EU candidate country, Politico cites its sources.
The Monday debate in the College of Commissioners followed a surprise visit by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Kyiv, where she discussed Ukraine’s membership bid with President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was von der Leyen’s second trip to the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in late February.
Officials familiar with the debate among commissioners said there was keen awareness of the sacrifices made by Ukrainians and clear recognition of the need to send a strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he has lost any chance of reclaiming Ukraine into his supposed sphere of influence, Politico says.
“The Commission does not forget that Ukraine is the only country in Europe where people died, where people were shot at because they were on the streets carrying EU flags,” one senior official said. “Now, we cannot tell them, ‘sorry guys, you were waving the wrong flags.'”
Recognising Ukraine as a candidate country ultimately requires the unanimous approval of the 27 heads of state and government on the European Council, who are expected to take up the question at a summit meeting in Brussels next week. Politico says that at least three countries are still opposed, without being specific.
The recommendation, which needs to be debated and adopted by the college of EU commissioners, would come with certain conditions and needs the approval of member states before Ukraine is officially granted the status. Some member states, including the Netherlands and Denmark, have so far opposed backing Kyiv’s bid, Bloomberg wrote earlier.
Moldova and Georgia have also applied for candidate status, and officials said that commissioners were generally supportive of Moldova, where a staunchly pro-EU government is now in place, but that they were less confident about Georgia, which has suffered from pervasive political turmoil and notable democratic backsliding in recent years, according to Politico.