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Ukraine’s EU membership ‘not on the agenda’ – Borrell — Analysis

Despite President Zelensky wanting entry fast-tracked, the bloc isn’t talking accession yet, top diplomat says

The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Monday that membership for Ukraine is currently “not on the agenda,”With the Russian offensive, this is a pressing matter. President Volodymyr Zilensky had asked the EU to approve Kiev’s request earlier. “immediate accession.”

Speaking before a meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers, Borrell told reporters that his immediate focus was to “provide an answer for the coming hours, not the coming years.” While he did not rule out membership, Borrell said that providing military assistance to Ukraine was a more pressing issue, describing Russia’s military attack as “an existential threat”To Europe

Zelensky, who had been urging the union to grant the request hours earlier, urged it. “immediate accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure.”Zelensky claimed that in a video address “our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing. I’m sure it’s fair. I’m sure it’s possible.”

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission stated that Sunday was a “good day” for all. “process with Ukraine that is, for example, integrating the Ukrainian market into the single market,”Addition “they are one of us and we want them.”

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Several EU states, among them Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania, have signaled their support for Ukraine’s EU accession.

Ukraine’s membership in the union, however, has caused divisions in the country before, and helped precipitate the current conflict. When democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an accession treaty with the EU in 2013, mass protests broke out and with the support of the US, Yanukovych was deposed a year later and pro-Western leader Petro Poroshenko took his place.

Following Crimea’s rejoining of Russia by referendum, Poroshenko ordered a massive military offensive against the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. These regions make up the Donbass. The conflict in this region, which together made up the Donbass for eight years, was at a low level until Poroshenko ordered a massive military offensive against Donetsk and Lugansk, shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin declared their independence.

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