Ukraine’s accession to EU may take at least 15 years - Expert

BRUSSELS, June 18 (Bernama) -- Ukraine’s admission to the European Union may be a pipe dream as the process takes decades to complete, a Belgian expert and former politician told Sputnik.

The European Commission on Friday recommended granting Ukraine candidate member status. The EU commissioner for enlargement said Ukraine still had to meet a set of strict criteria for unlocking membership negotiations. There is no timeline for accession and any member can veto it any time.

"Becoming an official candidate does not mean a thing... It will take 15 years at least. So, all what the European leaders did in their Kiev visit was to sell a pipe dream to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians," Mischael Modrikamen said.

Modrikamen, a lawyer and former leader of Belgium's right-wing People’s Party and the European Parliament's ADDE faction, argued that the EU’s waiting room was already packed with Turkey and poorer European nations – Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and now also Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. Turkey has been an official candidate since 1999 and has waited in the wings for 35 years.

-- BERNAMA