Just days after Ukraine’s President Zelensky declared his intention to start EU membership negotiations by the end of this year, the bloc’s former president Jean-Claude Juncker has poured cold water on the idea, branding it a country ‘corrupt at all levels of society’.
In an interview with the South German regional Augsburger Allgemeine paper, Juncker accused current EU officials of making ‘false promises’ to Ukraine and ‘telling Ukrainians that they can become members immediately’.
The Ukrainian government admitted that only two of the seven EU membership conditions had been met
‘Despite its efforts, it is not eligible to join and needs massive internal reform,’ he said. ‘We have had bad experiences with some so-called new members, for example when it comes to the rule of law. This cannot be repeated again.’
Juncker’s comments come in a week when the bloc’s foreign ministers have descended on Kyiv to discuss ‘long-term support’ for Ukraine. Meeting outside the EU’s borders for the first time ever, the location is designed to send a message to Moscow that the bloc’s support for Ukraine has not, in the words of the Kremlin, become ‘fatigued’.
Speaking on Monday after the meeting, Zelensky said, ‘Our key integration goal is to come up with a solution this year to begin membership negotiations, and today I heard once again that this is absolutely possible.
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