There is no “alternative” for Ukraine other than a fast-tracked E.U. accession process and full membership into the bloc. Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, made the declaration of alignment on Tuesday.
Speaking with Euronews, Kachka asserted that E.U. membership for Ukraine is a “starting point” for all discussions about the country’s figure. He argued that there are “no alternatives for the fast, merit-based, but full membership in the European Union.”
“Any type of alternative is simply not acceptable and not worth any discussion,” he stressed.
Kachka delivered his assertions referring to a proposal from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who recently touted the idea of granting Ukraine an unprecedented “Associate Member” position within the European Union.
In a letter reportedly issued to President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, Merz explained that his prospective “associate member” status for Ukraine would grant the country participation within the European Union and access to some E.U.-funded programs but would not grant it voting rights within the bloc’s institutions.
Kachka rejected Merz’s proposal during his Tuesday interview with Euronews — echoing President Volodymyr Zelensky’s response — and deemed it “unacceptable if it is an alternative to full membership.”
“So, that’s why the formula is very clear that we need to have a fast, comprehensive, normal accession process that will end with the signing of a treaty of accession under Article 49 of the Treaty of the European Union,” Kachka told Euronews.
“This is a normal accession. Everything else, I think that it doesn’t matter,” he continued.
Ukraine has long sought to join the European Union, reinvigorating its calls to join the bloc over the past years amid the ongoing war with Russia — however, as Breitbart News reported last year, Ukraine has faced a litany of criticism throughout the years over its lack to address corruption and other major issues, which has left it facing a long road towards its goals to joint he E.U.
Asked by Euronews if Ukraine is prepared to wait much longer to join the European Union, as some countries have had to wait about a decade to finally join, Kachka responded, “Here, we still have a certain prejudice towards Ukraine.”
“For Ukraine, this ‘decade’ started about 15 years ago or even earlier when we negotiated the association agreement,” he said. “A lot of our policies are based on E.U. rules.”
The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister called upon brussels to called upon Brussels to open all relevant Ukraine EU accession clusters in June — a month before the July timeline for the opening of all remaining clusters indicated earlier this month by EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.
Per Euronews, Ukraine set itself a “end of 2027” deadline to complete all internal obligations and be “technically ready” for European Union membership.
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