Sweden supports Ukraine’s “European elections”
Sweden has expressed its support for Ukraine’s “European elections” when diplomacy picks up ahead of an EU summit on its first ever war enlargement step.
“The Swedish government stands firm in its support for Ukraine’s European elections,” its foreign ministry told EUobserver on Sunday (June 12).
“Our commitment to the Eastern Partnership, launched by Poland and Sweden more than a decade ago, reflects our strong convictions and our support for Ukraine’s close ties with the EU,” it added, referring to an EU project to build closer relations. with former Soviet states. launched by Stockholm and Warsaw in 2009.
Ukraine applied to join the EU in February while already under Russian fire in an attempt to legally anchor the West’s commitment to its future.
The European Commission will issue its recommendation on Friday (June 17) on whether Ukraine should grant Ukraine official EU candidate status.
Candidacy would only be the first step in an accession process that would take years, but despite this, EU countries must first approve it.
And EU leaders will “return to the application for EU membership for Ukraine as well as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia” at a summit on June 23, according to the summit agenda, after Georgia and Moldova joined Ukraine and submitted EU bid.
For his part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen raised hopes for a positive recommendation with radiant smiles during a visit to Kyiv on Saturday.
But she also reminded Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky that “reforms are still needed to combat corruption, for example.”
Poland and the Baltic states are said to be “unconditional” for Ukraine’s EU candidacy, diplomats said.
But if Sweden’s statement sounded positive, it also contained warnings that pointed to tensions in EU talks.
– Ukraine’s application for EU membership should be treated in the same way as other countries’ applications have been made, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also tells EUobserver.
“The first step is for the Council of the European Union to ask the Commission to assess whether the conditions are in place for opening negotiations with Ukraine. In this way, we would show that we take Ukraine’s application seriously,” it added.
France and Germany have so far played their cards close to the chest.
But both they and Sweden were part of a group that still had “questions and reservations”, said an EU diplomat. The group also included Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, the diplomat said.
The fear was that some would demand “unrealistic” reforms in Ukraine before granting EU candidacy, which effectively kicks the process in the long haul, said another EU diplomat.
“And of course if Ukraine does not get it, the other two [Georgia and Moldova] can forget anything “, the diplomat added.
But with the unanimity of the EU required to move forward, a second fear is that EU states with close Russian ties may sabotage the process through a veto.
Hungary recently vetoed an EU oil embargo against Russia and the blacklisting of a top-class Russian churchman in what some diplomats say could “encourage” further action in the future.
“I think it will be possible to pacify them [wary countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands]”, said a third EU source.
“I am more afraid of Russian cottages, that is, Cyprus, Hungary, Austria, Malta,” the source said.
In the background, the United States and Britain are historically positive about EU enlargement in Eastern Europe, but Britain’s voice is not included after Brexit, EU sources said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov expressed optimism on Sunday that “Ukraine’s full EU membership is only a matter of time.”
Each country applying for EU candidate status must fill out a burdensome questionnaire from the European Commission on hundreds of pages.
And Chentsov stressed that this was no ordinary application.
“Ukraine did so at record speed under war conditions, while all governments, ministries and respective institutions involved in the work on the questionnaire were in Kyiv, under Russian shelling and constant air strikes,” he told EUobserver.
Asked how he thought Russia would react if EU leaders took the step, Chentsov said Russia should “stop this wild war” and “finally start taking care of its own people” instead.
“Looting of Russian soldiers in Ukraine shows the level of misery and humiliation in this country [Russia],” he said.