Will the European Union Admit Ukraine?

On the process and probability of the EU granting Zelensky’s request.

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If Vladimir Putin’s aim in ordering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to reverse the latter state’s diplomatic drift toward Europe and the West, he has so far been remarkably unsuccessful. Ukraine’s staunch resistance against its predatory neighbor has won it the sympathies of nations around the world, and Europe in particular has punched back at Russia with far fiercer economic measures than many anticipated. 

So when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week petitioned the European Union to accept Ukraine as a member, it wasn’t surprising that European officials responded with messages of solidarity.

“Ukraine and its people are family,” European Council President Charles Michel tweeted Saturday. “Further concrete support is on its way.” Ukraine is “one of us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Euronews Sunday, “and we want them in the European Union.”

It was a powerful message, widely shared by Ukraine’s cheerleaders online. But whether it will be anything more than that—a powerful diplomatic message—remains to be seen.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    I’m late to the party but this was very interesting. Thanks, Andrew.

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  2. LucyTrice

    What does Ukraine hope to get with immediate accession, or for at least asking for it?

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    Aylene Wright

    Just adding my comment here because it's a little sad that few have paid attention to this longer version of the TMD piece, or indeed the TMD version. (But the QoTD was the best this week, IMO, so I get why most comments do address it.)

    As always, very helpful to get some actual facts that go beyond the propaganda, which I do think this application is a very benign version of.

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      Jason Gibson

      I agree. It’s an article everyone has read but the likes don’t show it. I would rather TMD not do that

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      Paul Reichardt

      I agree this was a good piece and hope that it makes up in # of clicks what it lacks in # of comments (so far.)
      I think supplementary foreign policy pieces always tend to get much less commentary at the Dispatch for whatever reason, especially when the emphasis is explanatory journalism as opposed to contentious polemics.

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        DougCLE

        That's what I was going to say, as well. The serious pieces never get as much play in the Comments, but that doesn't mean they don't get read. I actually prefer them to read, but I don't often comment; I just don't feel I have anything worthwhile to say on these.

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    Michael Darwin

    It seems like considering to move in to a house that's on fire. Admitting Ukraine to the EU or NATO five years ago may have prevented this. Now it would only drag allied states into this conflict and risk escalating it. That may or may not be the right thing to do, but I don't see the support for it regardless.

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    1. Pohl

      Agreed. There’s also a CW taking shape that considers it self-evidently good to expand the EU and NATO. Perhaps the EU because whatever makes them happy and not starting world wars, but I’m not even sure I endorse the current NATO membership, let alone extending Art 5 hither and yon. We need to focus more on a post-Putin Russia and keeping them oriented to the West, where they belong but don’t always feel like it. That’s on them, and a bit on us.

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    Matt J

    In case you're wondering what might go wrong if unqualified countries are allowed to enter the EU, the answer is Greece. It lied about the strength of its economy to join, and eventually caused a pan-European economic crisis because of it. Almost all EU countries have to use the euro, and unstable economies make for unstable currencies.

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  6. Pohl

    Anyone following Eurocorps or the EU Battlegroups? Me neither. But there have been military stirrings in the EU for many years, so it’s worth a mention.

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