Ukraine has made no secret of its desire to join the European Union. Recently, President Volodymyr Zelensky made it clear that EU membership is one of the “security guarantees” that he and his country are seeking to end the war with Russia, aiming for an accession date in 2027. While EU membership is an understandable aspiration for Ukraine, an increasing number of European leaders are realizing that having Ukraine join the union prematurely would be a mistake, both for the country and for the union.
In the early days of the war, few European leaders raised any objections to the idea of fast-tracking Ukraine’s membership application, and it was widely assumed that Hungary would be the only major stumbling block to Ukraine’s accession. Now, though, skepticism appears to be growing, with leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani recently outright dismissing talk of Ukraine joining the EU in 2027, with the former stating that Ukraine is unlikely to join before 2034.
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