The European Union said Monday that it would begin reviewing membership applications by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova amid Russia’s increasing escalation of warfare.
The three nations — all former Soviet states — applied to join the organization last week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the AFP said.
The process to join the European Union is lengthy and complicated, sometimes taking more than a decade. Member states must all agree that an applicant can become a candidate before negotiations begin, the agency said.
Zelensky has repeatedly expressed his government’s desire to join the European Union and be “equal members of Europe,” saying the bloc “is going to be much stronger with us.”
“Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you indeed are Europeans, and then life will conquer death, and light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine,” he told members of the European Parliament last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, flanked by Chairman of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk (left) and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, signs a letter applying for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union. Instagram/@zelenskiy_official
The European Union will begin reviewing membership applications by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
Member states of the EU must all agree that an applicant can become a candidate before negotiations begin. Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via APMoldova has taken in at least 88,000 Ukrainians since the war broke out, and has been offering them jobs amid a labor shortage. The poor country has been helping those who fled get bank accounts and allowed them to enroll in health care and local schools.
Ukrainians took to the street in massive protests in 2013 after then-president Viktor Yanukovych rejected closer ties with the EU and cozied up to the Kremlin. The protests, called the Euromaidan, culminated in the ouster of Yanukovych.
