(Adnkronos) – Like other European Union candidate countries, Ukraine must get through the rigorous accession process, enacting the necessary legal, democratic and economic reforms, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Thursday after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pitched the idea of making the former Soviet republic an “associate member” of the 27-member bloc.
“Ukraine is a candidate country for EU membership, so we will begin work on that path,” Tajani said on the sidelines of a labour event in Rome.
“We must not forget the Balkans countries, which have been EU membership candidates for longer and still have a significant journey ahead (to enter the bloc),” Tajani underlined.
In a letter to EU leaders, Merz proposed the new “associate member” status for Ukraine allowing Ukrainian officials to take part in EU summits and ministerial meetings but not vote in them, claiming the move could help president Volodymyr Zelensky sell Ukrainians a peace deal to end the more-than-four-year-old Russian invasion.
Merz also suggested that EU leaders make a “political commitment” to apply the bloc’s mutual assistance clause to Ukraine, arguing this would provide “a substantial security guarantee” should Ukraine not regain all of its territory or join Nato – outcomes that are both widely expected.
Montenegro began entry negotiations with the EU in 2012, Serbia in 2014, and Albania and North Macedonia in 2022, while Bosnia-Herzegovina got a green light to start accession negotiations in 2024 but these have stalled due to deep political divisions and delayed domestic reforms.
Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022 after Russia’s invasion and began entry negotations in June 2024. European officials say Ukraine’s full membership of the bloc in the next few years is unrealistic, although 2027 is mentioned in a 20-point peace proposal discussed by Zelenksy and US president Donald Trump in late December.
