There is not a very high chance that Ukraine will soon become a candidate country for the European Union, as too many member countries do not like this idea, and it would also be unfair to the countries of the Western Balkans, which have been waiting for the candidate status for a long time, stated Mark Rutte of the Netherlands prime minister in parliament.
According to the NlTimes news portal, in his speech on Monday evening, Rutte said that there is a possibility that Ukraine will become a "potential candidate member" and that it will be required to take what steps it must take in order to receive the status of a regular candidate member. "This also happened in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Perhaps this would help the Ukrainian government", added the Dutch Prime Minister.
According to Rutte, Ukraine was "very far" from membership candidacy before the Russian war against it.
Regarding the fact that the leaders of several European Union member states declared that "Ukraine is part of the European family", Rutte said that these were more "emotional" than "legal" statements.
In the lower house of the Dutch parliament, several parties, including the left-wing liberal Democrats 66, the Greens and the social democratic Labor Party, are calling for Ukraine to become a candidate for membership as soon as possible, but the governing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy would be reluctant to grant the status.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi officially applied for his country's admission to the European Union in March. In April, several EU member states signed a declaration in which they called for the recognition of candidate member status and the acceleration of the accession process.
Rutte also expressed doubt that Moldova, which submitted its application for accession at the beginning of March, would soon receive candidate status. However, he did not rule out that these countries will join the EU at the end of the process, if they meet the conditions.
MTI
Photo: MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq
