Ukraine's path to EU will be tough, with or without Hungarian hurdle

KYIV, October 7 ------ Senior European Union officials who visited Ukraine have delivered a stern message to Kyiv that it has a lot more to do to secure membership, while they work on overcoming Hungary's opposition to Ukrainian accession.

Ukraine needs the backing of all 27 EU countries to become a member, but Budapest is blocking it from moving to the next stage of accession negotiations, citing concerns, including the language rights of ethnic Hungarians. Hungary's stance has frustrated other EU states, and the bloc's enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, led a high-level charm offensive in Ukraine last week, meeting the Hungarian minority in the west of the country to try to ease tensions.

EU MEMBERSHIP IS A BEACON OF HOPE FOR MANY UKRAINIANS

For many people in Ukraine, the prospect of EU membership represents a beacon of hope for a prosperous future, over three decades after it won independence from the Soviet Union.

In 2014, a pro-Russian president was ousted by mass protests after trying to divert Kyiv away from seeking EU membership, and Russia's war in Ukraine has made EU accession even more attractive for pro-Western Ukrainians. But an attempt by Kyiv over the summer to curb the independence of key watchdogs alarmed many European governments and put a spotlight on the reform challenges facing Ukraine, which needs to align its laws with EU standards.

The EU "cannot accept a new member state which is really not 100 percent following the rule of law," EU Enlargement Commissioner Kos told Reuters in an interview in Ukraine. Kos said "one part of this, showing the love, is being really strict," adding that, when it comes to reforms in areas ranging from agriculture to the environment, "now the tough work will come".

PUSHBACK AGAINST HUNGARY

European officials have signalled that if Ukraine sticks to reforms and fully adheres to rule-of-law norms, they will find a way to sidestep Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's opposition and ensure Ukraine makes progress toward accession.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of December, said in Copenhagen on Thursday that Ukraine and the EU can keep working on reforms to help Kyiv prepare for membership. "I will not allow one country, and I will certainly not allow Viktor Orban, to make decisions upon the entire European future," she said.

Source: reuters.com