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Rush to accept Ukraine into EU could spell ‘disaster’ – Austrian FM

Rt.com 1 Sept 23

Fast-tracking membership for Kiev would imply some candidates are “more equal than others,” Alexander Schallenberg has warned

The EU cannot afford to prioritize Ukraine’s accession to the bloc while neglecting other long-standing candidacies, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned on Friday.

Speaking on Politico’s EU Confidential podcast, Schallenberg said that while he believes Ukraine and neighboring Moldova belong in the “European family,” the EU must carefully consider its enlargement policy.

We can’t have Ukraine on the fast-track and the other countries on the service line. That will be a geostrategic disaster,” the minister claimed. Referencing George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘Animal Farm’, Schallenberg stressed that the EU should avoid a system in which some countries “are more equal than others.” 

The Austrian minister noted that the EU had promised membership to Western Balkan nations around 20 years ago, but had failed to deliver on that pledge. He urged Brussels to “put its money where its mouth is” and drop “binary thinking” about membership, suggesting candidate nations should be allowed some participation in EU deliberations and activities………………………………………… https://www.rt.com/news/582219-ukraine-eu-accension-disaster/—

September 5, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international