Editor’s Note: This article was updated after Hungary vetoed financial support for Ukraine.
AAFTER A DISAPPOINTMENT A week during which it struggled to obtain support from Washington, Ukraine received surprising good news from Brussels on December 14. The European Union has agreed to open negotiations for the country to join the bloc. A planned aid plan of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) will, however, have to wait.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be sitting at the negotiating table anytime soon. EU summit tables where such decisions are made. It will take at least several years for Ukraine to adopt the reforms needed to meet the EUThe demanding criteria for admitting a new member. But the green light from the bloc’s 27 current governments is a strong signal of their continued support for Ukraine’s war against Russia and their commitment to helping rebuild after it.
There has long been a consensus among the 26 of the EUUkraine’s leaders believed that Ukraine should move from candidate status – granted in June 2022 – to the official opening of membership negotiations. Last month, the European Commission, the EUThe country’s executive arm has recommended the opening of negotiations. The problem was in Budapest. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, has spent the past few weeks threatening to veto Ukraine’s progress, as has every EU the government can.
But it is perhaps no coincidence that a sum of 10 billion euros EU Funds for Hungary that had been suspended due to its weak justice system were released earlier this week. Mr Orban was absent from the European Council room at the time of the vote, thus tacitly acquiescing in this decision, although he declared on his arrival in Brussels that he was still opposed to it.
Other countries have also come closer EU accession. Moldova, another country harassed by Russia, will begin formal talks with Ukraine. Georgia has been designated as a candidate for membership. And a large number of candidate states in the Western Balkans have been swept away by Ukraine’s momentum. Bosnia and Herzegovina will begin its accession negotiations next spring if it is judged to have made progress in its convergence with EU standards.
The news is not all good for Ukraine. His government was also hoping for a four-year budget support plan worth 50 billion euros, starting in January. THE EU proposed it in June, but Mr Orban also opposed it. Some other governments had opposed a planned increase in EU budget, of which the money intended for Ukraine is part.
The other 26 national leaders ironed out their differences, but Mr. Orban held firm. They will now return to the issue in January. By then, the cantankerous Hungarian could once again be forced to fold. Otherwise, the EU (or its member states acting collectively without Hungary) will find other ways to financially support Ukraine. This could mean that the kyiv authorities receive money in dribs and drabs instead of a single firm commitment.
The financial imbroglio only partially soured the mood at a summit that many feared would be torn apart by division and acrimony. Few believed that Ukraine would get such unequivocal support from existing countries. EU members; a senior diplomat had predicted that governments would have to try again in March. “This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens,” Zelensky said on X (formerly Twitter).
The Americans must now do their part. President Joe Biden’s proposed $61 billion package for Ukraine is stalled in Congress by Republican leaders, with previous allocations all but spent. Mr. Zelensky appeared to make little progress during his visit to the United States this week. THE EUWashington’s procrastination on the budget will not help change mentalities in Washington. But feuding American politicians should take note of the historic commitment their counterparts in Brussels have made to bring Ukraine to the heart of Europe. ■
