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Ukraine will ‘very likely’ become EU member – Biden

American President on vacation has commented on European matters

Joe Biden is the US President. “very likely”He stated that he would like to join the European Union on Monday. Also, he said that a visit Kiev remains on the table but it is unlikely to happen during his trip to Europe.

Biden spoke to a press gaggle in Rehoboth, Delaware, where he’s vacationing ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, scheduled to start on June 29. However, the White House stated that the US President was not injured after he fell off his bike Saturday.

Ukraine is yet to be granted candidate status. This would mark the beginning of a lengthy process that could see it join the bloc. Paris and Berlin voted in favour of “immediately”This status was given to Kiev following the visit of Olaf Scholz (German Chancellor) and President Emmanuel Macron (France). The move is supported also by Italy and Romania.

This appears to be a change from the end of May, when Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Rome was the only major EU capital to back Kiev’s candidacy. Scholz and Draghi expressed dissatisfaction with the EU’s requirement that unanimous decisions be made. However, Scholz cited Ukraine to illustrate why this should be eliminated. 

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EU leaders demand Ukraine to be granted immediate status as a candidate

Germany “wants a positive decision in favor of Ukraine as a EU candidate country,” Scholz told the news agency DPA, adding that Brussels needs to “modernize its structures and decision-making processes.”

“It will not be always possible to decide unanimously on everything that has to be decided unanimously today,”The German leader stated. In the meantime, the Italian Prime Minister has advocated for “qualified majority decision-making” instead. 

While the US president officially has no say in whom the EU chooses to admit or when, the bloc has closely followed Washington’s lead regarding the conflict in Ukraine – often at its own economic detriment.

Biden has yet to visit Ukraine. Jill Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Lloyd Austin, Pentagon head did. Biden answered Monday’s question again, saying that it all depended on what he was planning to do in Kiev. “whether or not it causes more difficulty for Ukrainians, whether it distracts from what’s going on.” 

“On this trip, not likely,” he added. He will travel to Germany to attend the G7 Summit on Saturday and to Spain to host NATO leaders.

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