CTP: The European Union is not NATO. Ukraine and Moldova could be quickly accepted into the EU bloc on one condition
Journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu believes that there is a solution for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and other candidates to be accepted into the European Union faster and less strictly than usual, but this would require a major reform of the way. functioning of the Community bloc: to remove the condition of consensus and, in addition, to allow any country to be sanctioned with the suspension of voting rights and European funds if it does not comply with certain standards.
The journalist explained to Digi24 on Friday evening that the proposal of the French President Emmanuel Macron to create a kind of EU antechamber with the candidate countries has generated a real controversy, especially since the Ukrainian Foreign Minister reacted in a way that, he confesses . CTP, he didn’t like it at all.
“Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba had a reaction – which I did not like – about this house. I didn’t like the way he reacted at all. Said: We do not need surrogates for EU candidate status to show a second-hand attitude towards Ukraine and to offend the feelings of Ukrainians.
It’s an aggressive and arrogant attitude that I don’t like. After all, the European Union is not a military organization, this is not about NATO membership. Ukraine has renounced NATO membership. Zelenski himself said this: we are leaving NATO.
Should Ukraine be welcomed with a fast-paced turbo procedure in the European Union? Here’s a question my readers asked me on Facebook. The European Union is first and foremost a political, economic, social union and you have to meet criteria that are not in line with military criteria. The European Union has no military criteria. Do you know that in the process of joining the EU, those countries are required to have an army of a certain size? Border security, yes, but border security does not belong to the army, it belongs to the border police. To my knowledge, there are no requirements related to the military strength and military behavior of those countries, “CTP explained.
“Romania, upon accession, had major problems with the judiciary, in particular,” the journalist recalled. “Now, in passing, we should be admitted to Schengen tomorrow, I can’t even explain why. In this situation, it is embarrassing not to be in Schengen “, added CTP.
“But in what you discover Ukraine, Ukraine has exceptional, historical merits that arouse the admiration and support of all well-meaning people on this globe. Yes, I make extraordinary human sacrifices. Fight bravely with Putin’s horde. But that has nothing to do with the Union’s criteria
European Union, is related to military criteria. If it was now a question of Ukraine’s admission to NATO, I think that Kuleba was justified in admitting it, as Sweden and Finland are admitting at the moment. Without discussion “, the journalist continued his argument.
“What do I mean by the European Union, what does Mr Kuleba mean? It refers to Macron’s proposal, which says to make a kind of outer circle of the European Union, a kind of antechamber – and not “anteroom “, There is, please, this confusion, because it is taken from the Italian word in Romanian and then it is called “anteroom”, although logically it is somewhat absurd, because it is not something against the camera – so a kind of anteroom in which to between Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, this is the proposal that Mr. Kuleba is offended by “, said Cristian Tudor Popescu.
In the end, the journalist said that in his opinion, it would be a fair solution.
“It simply came to our notice then. They can now be received in the European Union with much less strict criteria – well, keeping them with organized crime, with borders, that is, you do not bring such problems and territorial disputes to the European Union, these remaining. But otherwise, a quick procedure can be done for Georgia, for Moldova, for Ukraine, and for the countries of the Western Balkans that want to enter now, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, and so on.
It can be done on one condition: that the European Union be reformed. In what sense? In the sense of removing, the disappearance of this consensus, which has nothing to look for there. Any of the newer or older countries can block you from entering, anyone can block some decisions. Yes, but if that changes and if decisions can be made by a qualified majority – as this proposal has been put forward – then yes. If those countries, any country, can be sanctioned with the suspension of the right to vote, sanctioned with not receiving any more money, European funds, if they do not respect things, could be an option. In this way, these countries can be received, but it should be practically possible to expel them or not to be able to prevent you from making some essential decisions in any country there “, said Cristian Tudor Popescu.