Putting Ukraine in the “fast lane” towards European Union (EU) membership would be fraught with “geopolitical disaster,” warned Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Brussels should not be looking at Ukraine’s EU bid through “rose-tinted glasses,” the politician told FT.
“You cannot have certain groups on the fast lane, others on service lane,” the politician stated in a nod at the holdup regarding Bosnia’ and Herzegovina's s accession bid.
While the European Commission recommended launching talks with Ukraine and Moldova on membership, regarding Bosnia it clarified that this should only begin “once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved.” Schallenberg, however, cautioned Brussels against looking at the western Balkans “with a magnifying glass” while adopting a much more condescending stance towards Kiev.
However, Schallenberg stopped short of confirming whether Austria might consider vetoing the launch of Ukraine’s membership talks over Bosnia, adding that talks with Brussels were “going in the right direction already”.
“Let’s not create a problem in the region that has been waiting for 20 years and give them another hoop [to jump through]. As [Albanian Prime Minister] Edi Rama said, if I quote him correctly, do we have to start a war in the Balkans to get your attention? There will be a very heated debate and we want the signals to be equal in both directions for geostrategic reasons,” Schallenberg told the outlet.
It should be noted that both former and current European officials have offered contradictory opinions on Ukraine's prospects for EU membership. European Council President Charles Michel said earlier that Ukraine could become a member of the bloc by 2030 if "both sides do their homework," "actively and steadily carry out reforms, fight corruption and comply with legal conditions." EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, on the other hand, warned that the 2030 target was just a “political horizon,” not a hard-set commitment.
Former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned against making any “false promises” to the Ukrainians, adding that “anyone who has anything to do with Ukraine knows that this is a country that is corrupt at all levels of society,” and, as such, remains ineligible to join.
In Austria, the leader of the opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), Herbert Kickl, stated on last week that it is "madness" for the European Union to seek the accession of Ukraine.
"Wanting to admit a country in the middle of a war into the EU is an act of political madness," Kickl was quoted as saying in an FPO statement. According to him, Ukraine's accession to the EU "would mean its [Austria's] direct involvement" in the West's ongoing proxy war against Russia.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently warned that his country may block the start of accession talks with Ukraine. Hungary will never agree to link the issue of paying Ukraine from the European Union budget and its admission into the bloc with the return of frozen money from EU funds to Budapest, Orban said.
“I would like to very clearly emphasize that Hungary’s disagreement with the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU is not a subject of bargaining. This should not be linked with any money issues. We must receive money that they owe to us," Orban said on the air of a Hungarian radio station.
Orban stressed that Kiev is not ready to start talks on its EU membership in any way, and "this is a clear Hungarian position."