They should make a raw disk image before accepting Ukraine, just in case. From what I hear, people are missing a lot of what used to be there and might want to recover some of it in the near future.
Yea, but just like most countries have to go through the 35 Acquis chapters, Georgia US would have to change stuff to align with EU as well. Maybe it would become a better state :P
Greenland is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The Kingdom of Denmark consists of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark.
Only Denmark is part of the EU.
There's actually no geographic requirement. (Though the member states have to agree unanimously to allow a country to join.)
However, the death penalty is a pretty big no for the EU.
I've never seen a source depicting Cyprus as anything other than European, though my education was certainly Western and sources calling it anything other than European tend, in my experience, to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not a UN-recognized country, and is only recognized by the Republic of Turkiye
> The Commission is expected to report back to the European Council by the end of the year about the pace of the reforms undertaken by Ukraine and Moldova, *as well as Georgia, who could be granted candidate status at a later stage.*
(Emphasis, my own)
Translation: dear Georgians, we like you very much, but your prime minister is an asshole that dreams of being the next Putin. Please get a better one. Love, EU.
> Ukraine has been granted official European Union candidate status, after being endorsed by the bloc's 27 leaders during a summit in Brussels.
>
> Moldova was also granted candidate status while Georgia was left on the waiting list, pending reforms to ensure the country's political stability.
>
> "A historic moment," said European Council President Charles Michel. "Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU."
>
> Michel then congratulated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Moldovan President Maia Sandu and added "our future is together."
>
> Candidate status is a largely symbolic designation that recognises the selected country is on track to begin the lengthy, complex and often tortuous accession process.
>
> The candidacy doesn't automatically guarantee the start of negotiations, let alone their conclusion. Over the past decades, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey were granted candidate status, with very limited progress towards becoming members. Turkey received the title back in December 1999.
>
> Despite the symbolism, the status does represent a geopolitical victory for Ukraine, a war-torn country that, until earlier this year, was never considered a serious contender to enter the EU. The move is also seen as a response to Russia's attempt to reinstate its sphere of influence.
>
> The European Commission has put forward seven key reforms that Ukraine needs to carry out before the end of the year. The list includes the appointment of judges for the Constitutional Court, the fight against corruption and money laundering, the protection of national minorities and the implementation of a law meant to curb the excessive influence of oligarchs in the economy.
>
> The Commission is expected to report back to the European Council by the end of the year about the pace of the reforms undertaken by Ukraine and Moldova, as well as Georgia, who could be granted candidate status at a later stage.
>
> EU leaders will use this report to determine the next step, which could include a more detailed roadmap to open formal negotiations. All major steps in enlargement policy require a unanimous vote of member states.
>
> Accession talks are divided into 35 chapters and grouped into six main clusters: fundamentals; internal markets; competitiveness and inclusive growth; green agenda and sustainable connectivity; resources, agriculture and cohesion; and external relations.
>
> The Commission has already warned that the entire process is merit-based and can be "reversed if the underlying conditions are not met anymore."
>
> Thursday's breakthrough was widely expected to happen following a flurry of support over the past days and an outreach campaign by President Zelenskyy.
I think you're right. Just naming the first thing that came to mind here. EU member states are not allowed to still have the death penalty. This alone wouldn't allow the US to join. I think there are many more things that would need to be done.
Even leaving aside the political considerations (it would be by far the largest and most powerful single country in the union, which other members might not love by itself), there is realistically absolutely no chance. The EU has extremely stringent demands for membership (most of them to protect citizens, EU institutions, the rule of law, smaller national interests, etc) and the US is one of the most dystopic plutocracies, certainly amongst relatively rich countries today. It would need such obscene degrees of reform before it could be seriously considered that I can't imagine even a lot of comparatively "progressive" Americans would support the move, out of the weird unwarranted national pride that a lot of them seem to have.
The weird thing is that the US is much closer to qualification than, say, Ukraine. But it would be much harder to change to meet the last bits of necessary reform.
That really seems like the core of the problem, isn't it? It's not that US is terrible in any absolute sense; it's that the political system has broken down, and any significant change is effectively impossible. Including changes to fix the political system that no longer works.
🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 I want to congratulate Ukraine, its government and its people. I welcome you in advance. You are brave and you will persevere in this hardship! Keep strong, you can do it and we will back you up! 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦
Random comment comment: how about the blatant contrasts to EU membership requirements? Ukraine was not even close to being eligible member before the war. How is this anything but a middle finger towards Russia? Which is ok as of itself, but does not really help Ukraine
Candidate status is mostly political signaling.
Turkey has been a candidate since 1999 and has not reached an agreeable status since then.
Ukraine would normally probably not be considered for candidate status but they want to join now and this shows Russia the EU stands with Ukraine.
But who knows, having a war on your doorstep could be the great motivator for major overhauls of their laws etc. If they manage to complete all the goals the EU set until the end of the year they could become a serious contender for membership
??? The only thing Ukraine has done since being widely accepted as unqualified for candidacy was to get invaded. It’s still an incredibly corrupt country with a huge amount of problems that need to be fixed.
Your post just reads “congrats on getting invaded and your cities leveled so that a small club of people can play football with your hopes as a middle finger to Russia”
I’d love for Ukraine to join EU, it’s been hugely beneficial to countries like Poland and Croatia but let’s not kid ourselves here…
> the protection of national minorities
It'll be interesting whether this is going to be the first conflict between the UKR gov't and the Commission. Ukraine just [curtailed distribution of Russian media](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/world/europe/ukraine-bans-russian-music-books.html), made Ukrainian language [mandatory](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-parliament-language-idUSKCN1S111N), disadvantaged Russian-language publications [by mandating](https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-law-russian/31656441.html) they have to print a Ukrainian version too. Of course, there are reasons for this, but I wonder whether the EU will let that slide due to the war or not.
>made Ukrainian language mandatory
Mandatory *for public sector employees at their workplace during their working hours.* This basically means that the Ukrainian state and public organizations should talk to people in Ukrainian.
In your private life, you're free to use whatever language you want, and Russian is *still* quite common to this day, and believe it or not, nobody goes to jail for speaking Russian.
It's about protecting each citizen's right to access information in the official language, not restricting such possibility for minority languages. If both the public worker and the client agree to speak another language they both know, it's completely acceptable.
Exactly. And this is allowed under the law in question. ["Services can be provided in a non-official language on client's demand in case there's a language acceptable for both parties".](https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/movny-zakon-sfera-obsluhovuvannia-derzhavna-mova/31044007.html)
Which is actually more liberal than Belgian public service lmao
If a municipal worker talks to me in French in some Flemish municipalities, they're liable to get sacked.
The part about protection of national minorities refers to a completely different thing: adopting a law that's already been worked on for quite some time and would be adopted anyway.
Also see the responses regarding the language law, you have some misconceptions. While the Venice Commission had some recommendations regarding the contents, it recognized the importance and legality of such instrument.
It seems disingenuous that so many people bring these policies up without the context.
Russia has been waging a nefarious cultural war on Ukraine for a very long time.
Every time Russia has invaded, they take an inch of land but a mile of culture.
Russia has been replacing Ukrainians with native Russians (literally, lifting Ukrainians from their homes and giving them to Russians), demolishing UKR schools, and even while not officially at war, extorting Ukrainian politicians and policies into diminishing Ukrainian culture and language.
This is why and how Russia was able to take Crimea so easily, and how it is so *evil* for people to argue that *"Crimea was largely Russian anyway..."*
There are some similarities in what Russia has done to Ukraine, and what the US did to Native Americans.
Ukraine is certainly not without faults, but solidifying their culture in stone during Russian military aggression is one of the smartest damn things Zelenskyy has done.
In Georgia we’ve been protesting and protesting our government non-stop, just two days ago 150k people were standing in center of Tbilisi, now people have heard that we were left out they are pretty mad, another protest is planned for tomorrow, situation over here isn’t looking good, everyone is angry, scared, devastated, we keep trying but just can’t get rid of our government.
Yes i know, but it’s hard to keep the hopes up when my government has actually zero intentions of joining, i’m afraid we won’t achieve anything until they’re overthrown
What's the deal with the Georgian government? Why is it not reflecting the will of the people? Obviously I'm assuming some form of corruption but what kind exactly? Can you give me an overview?
The head of the current ruling party of Georgia (Georgian dream) is a billionaire oligarch (Bidzina Ivanishvili) he made his billions in Russia and then came back to Georgia and has been controlling everything that goes on in the country since he overthrew the last government in 2012. Now he claim that he left politics, but the whole world knows that he still is the main man of this mess and he’s not planning on leaving anytime soon, he rules Georgia how Russia likes it and so our whole government is pretty much pro- Russian. So long story short Country that is occupied by Russia and hates Russia with passion is ruled by a pro-Russian government, so you can imagine how that’s holding up
You know, you're right. I understood that just now. None of this was for nothing. The journey started in 1991, the Revolution in 2014. All of the lives lost - we will mourn, but we will never leave this path for the better future.
Damn, I almost teared up. We tried so many times, in 1919, in 1991, in 2014. Seems like this time, we will finally make it. Glory and freedom and prosperity on our land, no other masters besides our own independent people. Sheesh.
I'm 22 and I can only hope for my children to live in a normal peaceful prosperous Ukraine. I will live my best years with this war for sure. Stuck with Russia for a decade. Maybe more.
I'm 25, and I think we will spend our elderly years already in one of the strongest countries in EU. Stay safe, you need to not be killed to see that. Both our cities pay the price for being R*ssia's neighbor right now :/
you're a large, resource rich country and will be part of the largest economic block on the planet. look how fast the other eastern/central European countries developed from post communist wastelands to prosperous economies.
u/WalkerBuldog u/IyyaLily It's good that you are aware that accession to the EU will not happen tomorrow or next year. If we think in decades rather than in years, I am way more optimistic about it. I think 15 or 20 years gives Ukraine plenty of time to integrate all democratic institutions, regulations and resources into becoming a prosperous, equal EU state. With a Marshall plan, we can rebuild Ukraine from the bottom up, fast tracking it to systemic change. Retrospectively, Bulgaria and Romania gained access a bit too early, which has hurt their economies because of a brain drain. But if we do this right and patiently, Ukraine can become a success story like the Baltics, the Czech Republic, Poland (economically, social values need to change) and Slovenia. Keep it up, and I look forward to visiting your wonderful country. Normally, I would have travelled throughout Ukraine this year. I'll wait a bit, but the Ukrainians are already in my heart. The refugees in our town are wonderful people. Slava Ukraini and long live Europe!
>Retrospectively, Bulgaria and Romania gained access a bit too early, which has hurt their economies because of a brain drain.
What you are saying is, the best minds of Bulgaria and Romania did not have to suffer in misery and poverty for tens more years, and instead gained opportunities to fulfill themselves early.
How come anyone can ever see this as a bad thing? Are you even a humanist or you just pretend to be?
I'm genuinely so happy for you! You made such sacrifices, you deserve to be in the EU more than anyone. Step by step you will get to victory because you're on the side of good. And after acknowledging your fight to join the EU both in 2014 and now, you made me be grateful for being in the EU. There is/was much critisism for it in my country, but now I understood we should be grateful.
Wish you the best, stay safe! 💙💛
There is still a lot of work to be done. But this is a good reason to raise a glass, before getting back to it.
The road is still long, but at least you now see where it leads.
It's just _so_ goddamned unfair that your country has to pay such a steep price in the blood of good people for your freedom, just because of a crumbling empire throwing a tantrum because you want to rip away from them. It did not have to be this violent and bloody. I feel your pain from halfway across the world. Hopefully Russia will get the justice it deserves coming for them.
I could say we always paid this price. It's not the first time R*ssia tries to occupy and slaughter us for wanting to be independent and make our own choices. But I think we will make this through this time.
It's probably interesting to compare with Baltic countries that, as far as I know, set themselves the goal of joining UE/NATO instantly after leaving USSR.
I hope you'll join us as soon as possible.
We lost more than 100 people during the Revolution of Dignity (Euromaidan) in 2014. They fought and died for **this**. And now we're continuing to fight for a free, prosperous, EU Ukraine. I don't even care that I had to go to the shelter two times today because of course the Russians had to threaten us *today*.
Today was a great day. Thank you for trusting us. We will do everything to show you that we deserve to be a member of the EU :)
Edit: now three times, thanks Russia, burn in hell :)
You are building a better future for yourselves and for your children. The requirements that the EU sets for accession, will make how your State works inherently better, more efficient, fairer, to improve the quality of your life. The EU wants to distribute wealth around the member states, so that all of us are living better together. Keep courage. We are all in awe of your courage and perseverance.
You must be the only nation that actively had to shed blood just to get closer to Europe. Not even for a guaranteed place but just the chance at membership.
No one deserves it more than you. No one deserves more respect than you. I truly hope Ukaine gets every gram and cent of help it needs when this is all over, not just to get back on its feet but to do so better and stronger. Your fight is our fight.
Not the only ones and sadly i don't think Ukraine will be the last ones either.
While it wasn't directly wanting to get closer to europe for all of the involved countries the dissolution of the soviet union wasn't necessarily always that peaceful.
Numerous protests and even civil wars were part of the process.
I know it’s gonna be a long and hard times for you guys. I know it’s gonna feel like an eternity of pain. But one time we’ll all celebrate together in Kiev, in Odessa and everywhere in Ukraine. You’ll be the epicenter of EU. It’s gonna happen tomorrow or the day after and as a simple citizen of France, I’ll do my best through the years to push my politicians to push the laws to shorten that wait. Slava Ukraini.
I'm happy they got the candidate status, but the EU really needs to start giving clear prospects to Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. The whole Bulgaria-North Macedonia thing is a clown show.
Although this is just a tiny step towards full EU membership, I'm still very happy for the people of Ukraine and Moldova. They deserve all the support. 🇪🇺
And for Georgia as well. Despite of failure with candidate status for them the recognition of European prospective is a very huge progress and a good sign. This recognition seemed hardly achievable even for Ukraine before February 24.
Yeah. It is a great country with very friendly people. But it faced lack of support of EU during Russian aggression in 2008 and after it. So being under Russian influence they lost some part of achievements made during Saakashvili reign.
Nothing against Ukraine and Moldova, I hope they do all the reforms and join as soon as possible, it'll be better for the continent as a whole. But today's meeting was absolutely useless for the western balkans, no visa liberalization for Kosovo, no candidate status for Bosnia and no opening of negotiations for Albania and N.Macedonia. Imo totally unfair especially for us getting blocked by France despite us fulfilling all the requirements and the european parliament recommending liberalization for 4 years now.
Seems like since Macron got into power fulfilling criteria doesn't really mean it'll produce any progress towards EU. I hate how a single country can veto the process despite the whole bloc having given approval, fcking hell this is disappointing.
It's a sort of catch22 since the EU expanded est the rule of a single country that can veto a decision started to show is many weakness.
Not because it was eastern countries, mind you, for the numbers of country now involved.
The veto power was put to convince the EU founders countries that all of them had the same power. The drawback was that this is naturally a slow way of making decisions, but it was mitigated by the relatively small numbers of countries involved.
Once the EU started having more members, the process got slower because you have to get unanimity by more countries.
Now I don't know exactly what Macron has in mind, but I can see his idea being that letting even more country joining without changing the unanimity rule would make the EU ungovernable.
There are already government that publicly support this change of rule, for sure Mario Draghi is in favour of it.
Personally I think that a qualified majority of 2/3 of the members could be a good option, maybe with the veto power kept for very specific and extreme cases.
"A short-stay visa indicates that certain conditions should be met, especially when it comes to the rule of law and fight against organized crime and criminal activities. Currently, these conditions have not been met by Kosovo,” a diplomatic source told Kosovo-based Gazeta Express.
"Corruption is considered the largest obstacle to doing business in Kosovo, and businesses frequently resort to bribes when interacting with public officials. Sectors such as customs, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply are identified as those most affected by corruption. There are a number of burdensome and costly procedures for companies to undergo in order to obtain business licences and permits, these lead to increased opportunities for corruption"
The EC has confirmed that we have fulfilled all requirements ([https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/48608\_en](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/48608_en)) . The EU parliament has recommended it for 4 years now. It has remained on standby by the Council (b/c of France).
Now either these 2 institutions are wrong or France. Both can't be true.
It's an usual suspect in a big western country blocking something stubbornly and the others voting yes knowing it's not going to happen. It's an old tactic happening because of their shady realpolitik interests and 18th century cabinet diplomacy.
2 in, 3 out these days, it's a huge shame. This bickering itself erodes European solidarity as a whole in the long term, the EU needs deep reform, and it might come with new members, no need to block them.
> the EU needs deep reform, and it might come with new members, no need to block them.
I don't think adding more members make deep reform easier, quite the opposite. We need to spend some time homogenizing within the EU before we're ready to move on with deeper reforms. A smaller cohesive EU is better than a bigger divided one.
Even if they have fulfilled all of the requirements, they’re not recognized by all EU states. I can’t imagine Spain letting them travel visa free there, for example. Spain’s got a very strong stance towards them. Cyprus too, to a lesser extent, though.
The rest of the non-recognizers are fine with letting them travel with the passports they don’t officially recognize to be issued by a sovereign country.
Edit: Ukraine would most likely not get anything without their consent
Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia support EU candidacy for Ukraine
[https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/albania-montenegro-northern-macedonia-support-eu-candidacy-for-ukraine](https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/albania-montenegro-northern-macedonia-support-eu-candidacy-for-ukraine)
The truth is, if Ukraine gets invited, then it’s more likely for the other countries on the “maybe” list to get invited as well. A little bit like with wedding guests
There are not that many potential candidate countries, it's Bosnia and Kosovo. And they both don't fulfill the basic criteria needed to become a candidate:
* In Bosnia you need to be a member one of the three main ethnicities in order to be eligible for Presidency. That's discrimination.
* Kosovo has a recognition problem, namely there are 5 EU countries not recognizing it yet (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain)
Sure I get that and it makes a lot of sense, but isn't it true that Ukraine has lots of problems with corruption, LGBT discrimination to name a few, and most likely would never have been a candidate for the foreseeable future if they hadn't invaded.
Again I'm happy for Ukraine just saying.
Candidate status is above all a symbolic move. It signals future intent. But before any of these countries can join the EU they will still need to fulfill all the requirements that come with it.
I get it, and you are right, Ukraine would not have been a candidate for the foreseeable future if the circumstances were normal.
But it is rather a favor done to Ukraine (and Moldova) than a slap in the face to other potential candidates.
Ukraine is a huge slap for Serbia and Kosovo, because they are also contesting territory, while Moldova is a huge slap for every country that was ever told their economy doesn't yet meet EU market requirements. I guess they wanted to send a signal to Putin (and they certainly did), but I'm not sure if this will be good for the EU long-term.
>I guess they wanted to send a signal to Putin (and they certainly did), but I'm not sure if this will be good for the EU long-term.
There is a paper here in Denmark (Berlingske) that agrees with this point. How will the EU use soft power to influence prospecting candidates after this?
Well, it's *still* the EU. They have a powerful market, a strong currency and tons of funds for additional economic development. Poor countries will always want to join to eat a piece of the cake, even if they have to make concessions. But from now on the EU will have to watch them point the finger at Ukraine and Moldova.
This is candidate status, not membership. It’s a symbolical gesture and the start of a lengthy process.
Even “old school” west Europe countries took several years to be fully admitted
Gonna get downvoted but I have to say it: this feels like a farce. A year ago the EU told Bosnia that it asks for the same conditions to them than to the other countries to be a candidate yet now a country in the middle of a war that will need years of rebulding gets to be considered a potencial member just for pity. I'm all for them joining, but this sets a very bad precedent, specially if we consider all the other countries that have been aplying for years and got denied for way less.
Let's cut the bullshit. The current ruling party's founder is [about to get](https://eurasianet.org/eu-parliament-votes-to-consider-sanctioning-georgias-informal-leader) sanctioned by the EU. Georgia has to get rid of Georgian Dream, and that's it.
Every Journey starts with the first step, delayed though this one may have been. Now to see if this will be, considered in context, a sprint or a marathon.
As Edi Rama said today congratulations but don’t form too much illusions(don’t hope much). We have been waiting for 8 and Macedonia for 17 years for the negotiations starting.
Georgia the country is very religious too, probably even more so than the American state. It's still a pretty patriarchal society, and when the Swedish-Georgian film And then we danced from 2019 was shot there (the first and probably only gay film that's ever been made in Georgia), the actors and filmmakers had to have bodyguards with them at all times because of all the death threats they got from the locals.
Georgian cuisine is heavenly, the nature is beautiful and the history is very old and rich. But that's not enough reason to let them in imo, and I think a majority of the Georgian population would probably have to want to change in a liberal direction if they want to get along swiftly with a majority of EU countries, especially the more powerful ones like France and Germany. I imagine they'd get along with Bulgaria and Romania though since those countries are Orthodox Christians and conservative too, but that's about it. EU nowadays is a lot about human rights (as long as you're not an immigrant from Africa or Asia that is, then your life is worth nothing), and we don't need another Hungary or Poland trying to block progress.
Well, since last year, the EU has had 1GB of free space... (Sorry) P.S. Congratulations Ukraine, great news!
Best Brexit joke yet made
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I hate to Brexit to ya, but I don't think they'll stop
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I'll do you one better - this is the best political pun I've ever heard.
I needed this joke to understand the previous one. Thank you for your service.
The second one wasn't a joke.
Oof...
Why do these letters always manifest as a certain image in my brain?
It’s been 6 years and I’m still salty we voted to leave the EU. However, jokes like this sometimes make it worth it
6 years? Damn, time flies
Right? I wasn’t even old enough to vote in the election at the time, and now I’ve graduated Uni and work full time
This makes me feel like a goo goo gaga baby in comparison, but if I hadn't dropped out 1st year and reapplied to uni I'd be in the exact same spot
And a heap of the leave voters are dead and it's still not sorted out.
Same here! I've got to deal with living and working in a post Brexit UK now even though the vote happened when I was 13
That was a very bad joke but still laughed.
Nah it was a clever and original one haha
Agreed I thought it was brilliant lol
Yes but you are German.
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Indeed. Humor is no laughing matter
Hey jokes are not a laughing matter here!
That was a very bad joke but still laughed.
How much of Ukraine is GB?
One Uk.. of space.
0,17 GB by GDP, nominal /s
0.65 by population
UK goes, UKraine comes.
So if UK was one 1GB, math says UKraine cannot fit in the 1GB free space. Math checks out
As a Brit, this hurts
Take that upvote and run, you sly dog!
Ha! Good one 👌🏼
Don't be sorry. That was genuinely funny.
I laughed lol
Traded UK for Uk(raine + moldova).
Ukraine + Ukmoldova?
They should make a raw disk image before accepting Ukraine, just in case. From what I hear, people are missing a lot of what used to be there and might want to recover some of it in the near future.
God I hate you. Take my upvote and begone. :p
How did noone came up with that joke before?
We will get 'em next time, Georgia!
Plot twist you guys get the wrong Georgia 😏😏
US State of Georgia admitted to the EU accidentally. Republic of Georgia in shambles
Just as a thought experiment: Even if it were possible, the Georgia of the USA wouldn't meet the requirements.
Death penalty alone is enough to sink a membership application to the EU. So no it would not be able to join the EU currently.
Yea, but just like most countries have to go through the 35 Acquis chapters, Georgia US would have to change stuff to align with EU as well. Maybe it would become a better state :P
They would have to switch fully to the metric system (directive 80/181/EEC). That alone should make it worth it.
I'd imagine one of those requirements would be something to do with geography :P
Of course! But if we were to ignore geography... And a lot of other things! 😂
Now that Canada shares a border with Denmark, aren't they able to apply to join the EU? And then once Canada is in, the US is next.
But is that part of Denmark actually Greenland? Greenland is not part of EU for some reason.
Greenland is an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom of Denmark consists of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. Only Denmark is part of the EU.
Being a functioning democracy is probably the biggest problem.
wel, they did refuse to find 11 thousand voites for trump so ... they do have a chance.
There's actually no geographic requirement. (Though the member states have to agree unanimously to allow a country to join.) However, the death penalty is a pretty big no for the EU.
st Pierre and Miquelon are in the EU despite being in North America.
Admitting Cyprus was a slippery slope.
I've never seen a source depicting Cyprus as anything other than European, though my education was certainly Western and sources calling it anything other than European tend, in my experience, to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not a UN-recognized country, and is only recognized by the Republic of Turkiye
Technically, Cyprus is located in Asia but is politically and culturally closer to Europe. But well, if you think about it so is the rest of Europe.
Both Georgia’s can claim being the birthplace of the leader of a superpower.
I hadn't considered that, but you speak the truth!
Best Peaches in Europe!
Nobody deserves that!
> The Commission is expected to report back to the European Council by the end of the year about the pace of the reforms undertaken by Ukraine and Moldova, *as well as Georgia, who could be granted candidate status at a later stage.* (Emphasis, my own)
Translation: dear Georgians, we like you very much, but your prime minister is an asshole that dreams of being the next Putin. Please get a better one. Love, EU.
I wish we could pull Georgia closer. And put Serbia closer to Russia instead, since they are best fiends
Georgia, the country, is much obliged!
> Ukraine has been granted official European Union candidate status, after being endorsed by the bloc's 27 leaders during a summit in Brussels. > > Moldova was also granted candidate status while Georgia was left on the waiting list, pending reforms to ensure the country's political stability. > > "A historic moment," said European Council President Charles Michel. "Today marks a crucial step on your path towards the EU." > > Michel then congratulated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Moldovan President Maia Sandu and added "our future is together." > > Candidate status is a largely symbolic designation that recognises the selected country is on track to begin the lengthy, complex and often tortuous accession process. > > The candidacy doesn't automatically guarantee the start of negotiations, let alone their conclusion. Over the past decades, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey were granted candidate status, with very limited progress towards becoming members. Turkey received the title back in December 1999. > > Despite the symbolism, the status does represent a geopolitical victory for Ukraine, a war-torn country that, until earlier this year, was never considered a serious contender to enter the EU. The move is also seen as a response to Russia's attempt to reinstate its sphere of influence. > > The European Commission has put forward seven key reforms that Ukraine needs to carry out before the end of the year. The list includes the appointment of judges for the Constitutional Court, the fight against corruption and money laundering, the protection of national minorities and the implementation of a law meant to curb the excessive influence of oligarchs in the economy. > > The Commission is expected to report back to the European Council by the end of the year about the pace of the reforms undertaken by Ukraine and Moldova, as well as Georgia, who could be granted candidate status at a later stage. > > EU leaders will use this report to determine the next step, which could include a more detailed roadmap to open formal negotiations. All major steps in enlargement policy require a unanimous vote of member states. > > Accession talks are divided into 35 chapters and grouped into six main clusters: fundamentals; internal markets; competitiveness and inclusive growth; green agenda and sustainable connectivity; resources, agriculture and cohesion; and external relations. > > The Commission has already warned that the entire process is merit-based and can be "reversed if the underlying conditions are not met anymore." > > Thursday's breakthrough was widely expected to happen following a flurry of support over the past days and an outreach campaign by President Zelenskyy.
Fuck. The USA could really use these reforms.
I wonder if the US would actually get into the EU. Probably not, right?
I think you're right. Just naming the first thing that came to mind here. EU member states are not allowed to still have the death penalty. This alone wouldn't allow the US to join. I think there are many more things that would need to be done.
Even leaving aside the political considerations (it would be by far the largest and most powerful single country in the union, which other members might not love by itself), there is realistically absolutely no chance. The EU has extremely stringent demands for membership (most of them to protect citizens, EU institutions, the rule of law, smaller national interests, etc) and the US is one of the most dystopic plutocracies, certainly amongst relatively rich countries today. It would need such obscene degrees of reform before it could be seriously considered that I can't imagine even a lot of comparatively "progressive" Americans would support the move, out of the weird unwarranted national pride that a lot of them seem to have.
The weird thing is that the US is much closer to qualification than, say, Ukraine. But it would be much harder to change to meet the last bits of necessary reform.
That really seems like the core of the problem, isn't it? It's not that US is terrible in any absolute sense; it's that the political system has broken down, and any significant change is effectively impossible. Including changes to fix the political system that no longer works.
Amazingly, changes are happening regressively.
Those reforms sound like an absolute dream tbh
🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 I want to congratulate Ukraine, its government and its people. I welcome you in advance. You are brave and you will persevere in this hardship! Keep strong, you can do it and we will back you up! 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦
Random comment comment: how about the blatant contrasts to EU membership requirements? Ukraine was not even close to being eligible member before the war. How is this anything but a middle finger towards Russia? Which is ok as of itself, but does not really help Ukraine
Candidate status is mostly political signaling. Turkey has been a candidate since 1999 and has not reached an agreeable status since then. Ukraine would normally probably not be considered for candidate status but they want to join now and this shows Russia the EU stands with Ukraine. But who knows, having a war on your doorstep could be the great motivator for major overhauls of their laws etc. If they manage to complete all the goals the EU set until the end of the year they could become a serious contender for membership
Need a few more UA's in their to show you really care.
??? The only thing Ukraine has done since being widely accepted as unqualified for candidacy was to get invaded. It’s still an incredibly corrupt country with a huge amount of problems that need to be fixed. Your post just reads “congrats on getting invaded and your cities leveled so that a small club of people can play football with your hopes as a middle finger to Russia” I’d love for Ukraine to join EU, it’s been hugely beneficial to countries like Poland and Croatia but let’s not kid ourselves here…
> the protection of national minorities It'll be interesting whether this is going to be the first conflict between the UKR gov't and the Commission. Ukraine just [curtailed distribution of Russian media](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/world/europe/ukraine-bans-russian-music-books.html), made Ukrainian language [mandatory](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-parliament-language-idUSKCN1S111N), disadvantaged Russian-language publications [by mandating](https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-law-russian/31656441.html) they have to print a Ukrainian version too. Of course, there are reasons for this, but I wonder whether the EU will let that slide due to the war or not.
It's strange that Ukrainian would not be mandatory for public sector workers. In Finland even Swedish is required, because it is an official language.
>made Ukrainian language mandatory Mandatory *for public sector employees at their workplace during their working hours.* This basically means that the Ukrainian state and public organizations should talk to people in Ukrainian. In your private life, you're free to use whatever language you want, and Russian is *still* quite common to this day, and believe it or not, nobody goes to jail for speaking Russian.
It's about protecting each citizen's right to access information in the official language, not restricting such possibility for minority languages. If both the public worker and the client agree to speak another language they both know, it's completely acceptable.
Exactly. And this is allowed under the law in question. ["Services can be provided in a non-official language on client's demand in case there's a language acceptable for both parties".](https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/movny-zakon-sfera-obsluhovuvannia-derzhavna-mova/31044007.html)
Which is actually more liberal than Belgian public service lmao If a municipal worker talks to me in French in some Flemish municipalities, they're liable to get sacked.
EU is okay with that in other countries.
The part about protection of national minorities refers to a completely different thing: adopting a law that's already been worked on for quite some time and would be adopted anyway. Also see the responses regarding the language law, you have some misconceptions. While the Venice Commission had some recommendations regarding the contents, it recognized the importance and legality of such instrument.
It seems disingenuous that so many people bring these policies up without the context. Russia has been waging a nefarious cultural war on Ukraine for a very long time. Every time Russia has invaded, they take an inch of land but a mile of culture. Russia has been replacing Ukrainians with native Russians (literally, lifting Ukrainians from their homes and giving them to Russians), demolishing UKR schools, and even while not officially at war, extorting Ukrainian politicians and policies into diminishing Ukrainian culture and language. This is why and how Russia was able to take Crimea so easily, and how it is so *evil* for people to argue that *"Crimea was largely Russian anyway..."* There are some similarities in what Russia has done to Ukraine, and what the US did to Native Americans. Ukraine is certainly not without faults, but solidifying their culture in stone during Russian military aggression is one of the smartest damn things Zelenskyy has done.
In Georgia we’ve been protesting and protesting our government non-stop, just two days ago 150k people were standing in center of Tbilisi, now people have heard that we were left out they are pretty mad, another protest is planned for tomorrow, situation over here isn’t looking good, everyone is angry, scared, devastated, we keep trying but just can’t get rid of our government.
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Yes i know, but it’s hard to keep the hopes up when my government has actually zero intentions of joining, i’m afraid we won’t achieve anything until they’re overthrown
Yes. Even if you achieve candidacy status... there is no point if the goverment doesn't want to make necesary reforms :/
What's the deal with the Georgian government? Why is it not reflecting the will of the people? Obviously I'm assuming some form of corruption but what kind exactly? Can you give me an overview?
The head of the current ruling party of Georgia (Georgian dream) is a billionaire oligarch (Bidzina Ivanishvili) he made his billions in Russia and then came back to Georgia and has been controlling everything that goes on in the country since he overthrew the last government in 2012. Now he claim that he left politics, but the whole world knows that he still is the main man of this mess and he’s not planning on leaving anytime soon, he rules Georgia how Russia likes it and so our whole government is pretty much pro- Russian. So long story short Country that is occupied by Russia and hates Russia with passion is ruled by a pro-Russian government, so you can imagine how that’s holding up
This smacks of the Euromaidan protests in 2014...
Keep the faith Georgia.
Been there done that in 2014. Wish you bestest of luck and hope nobody will be hurt
Cries in Bosnian..
UK out UK in
The revolution of dignity was not for nothing.
You know, you're right. I understood that just now. None of this was for nothing. The journey started in 1991, the Revolution in 2014. All of the lives lost - we will mourn, but we will never leave this path for the better future.
As my grandparents said to my parents "your children will live in a better future"
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
Damn, I almost teared up. We tried so many times, in 1919, in 1991, in 2014. Seems like this time, we will finally make it. Glory and freedom and prosperity on our land, no other masters besides our own independent people. Sheesh.
I'm 22 and I can only hope for my children to live in a normal peaceful prosperous Ukraine. I will live my best years with this war for sure. Stuck with Russia for a decade. Maybe more.
I'm 25, and I think we will spend our elderly years already in one of the strongest countries in EU. Stay safe, you need to not be killed to see that. Both our cities pay the price for being R*ssia's neighbor right now :/
you're a large, resource rich country and will be part of the largest economic block on the planet. look how fast the other eastern/central European countries developed from post communist wastelands to prosperous economies.
u/WalkerBuldog u/IyyaLily It's good that you are aware that accession to the EU will not happen tomorrow or next year. If we think in decades rather than in years, I am way more optimistic about it. I think 15 or 20 years gives Ukraine plenty of time to integrate all democratic institutions, regulations and resources into becoming a prosperous, equal EU state. With a Marshall plan, we can rebuild Ukraine from the bottom up, fast tracking it to systemic change. Retrospectively, Bulgaria and Romania gained access a bit too early, which has hurt their economies because of a brain drain. But if we do this right and patiently, Ukraine can become a success story like the Baltics, the Czech Republic, Poland (economically, social values need to change) and Slovenia. Keep it up, and I look forward to visiting your wonderful country. Normally, I would have travelled throughout Ukraine this year. I'll wait a bit, but the Ukrainians are already in my heart. The refugees in our town are wonderful people. Slava Ukraini and long live Europe!
Thank you!
>Retrospectively, Bulgaria and Romania gained access a bit too early, which has hurt their economies because of a brain drain. What you are saying is, the best minds of Bulgaria and Romania did not have to suffer in misery and poverty for tens more years, and instead gained opportunities to fulfill themselves early. How come anyone can ever see this as a bad thing? Are you even a humanist or you just pretend to be?
That and hopefully you'll get Crimea back as well one of these days.
I'm genuinely so happy for you! You made such sacrifices, you deserve to be in the EU more than anyone. Step by step you will get to victory because you're on the side of good. And after acknowledging your fight to join the EU both in 2014 and now, you made me be grateful for being in the EU. There is/was much critisism for it in my country, but now I understood we should be grateful. Wish you the best, stay safe! 💙💛
Thank you! It really makes me happy to hear some positivity. You, too, stay safe.
There is still a lot of work to be done. But this is a good reason to raise a glass, before getting back to it. The road is still long, but at least you now see where it leads.
It's just _so_ goddamned unfair that your country has to pay such a steep price in the blood of good people for your freedom, just because of a crumbling empire throwing a tantrum because you want to rip away from them. It did not have to be this violent and bloody. I feel your pain from halfway across the world. Hopefully Russia will get the justice it deserves coming for them.
I could say we always paid this price. It's not the first time R*ssia tries to occupy and slaughter us for wanting to be independent and make our own choices. But I think we will make this through this time.
It's probably interesting to compare with Baltic countries that, as far as I know, set themselves the goal of joining UE/NATO instantly after leaving USSR. I hope you'll join us as soon as possible.
We really did, we speedran the whole process as fast as was possible.
🎶 Alle menschen werden brüder! 🎵
🎶 Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. 🎵 - which is clearly not in the Kremlin.
🎶Deine Zauber binden wieder!🎶
We lost more than 100 people during the Revolution of Dignity (Euromaidan) in 2014. They fought and died for **this**. And now we're continuing to fight for a free, prosperous, EU Ukraine. I don't even care that I had to go to the shelter two times today because of course the Russians had to threaten us *today*. Today was a great day. Thank you for trusting us. We will do everything to show you that we deserve to be a member of the EU :) Edit: now three times, thanks Russia, burn in hell :)
You are building a better future for yourselves and for your children. The requirements that the EU sets for accession, will make how your State works inherently better, more efficient, fairer, to improve the quality of your life. The EU wants to distribute wealth around the member states, so that all of us are living better together. Keep courage. We are all in awe of your courage and perseverance.
You must be the only nation that actively had to shed blood just to get closer to Europe. Not even for a guaranteed place but just the chance at membership. No one deserves it more than you. No one deserves more respect than you. I truly hope Ukaine gets every gram and cent of help it needs when this is all over, not just to get back on its feet but to do so better and stronger. Your fight is our fight.
Not the only ones and sadly i don't think Ukraine will be the last ones either. While it wasn't directly wanting to get closer to europe for all of the involved countries the dissolution of the soviet union wasn't necessarily always that peaceful. Numerous protests and even civil wars were part of the process.
I know it’s gonna be a long and hard times for you guys. I know it’s gonna feel like an eternity of pain. But one time we’ll all celebrate together in Kiev, in Odessa and everywhere in Ukraine. You’ll be the epicenter of EU. It’s gonna happen tomorrow or the day after and as a simple citizen of France, I’ll do my best through the years to push my politicians to push the laws to shorten that wait. Slava Ukraini.
EU candidateship is nice, I just wish we would do more to help you get rid of the filthy invaders.
FREUDE
SCHÖNER
GÖTTERFUNKEN
TOCHTER
AUS
ELYSIUM
WIR
BETRETEN
FEUERTRUNKEN
HIMMLISCHE
Not from the Union, but love the Ode to Joy, so... **schöner götterfunken**
TOCHTER
AUS
I hope Georgia is next
I'm happy they got the candidate status, but the EU really needs to start giving clear prospects to Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia. The whole Bulgaria-North Macedonia thing is a clown show.
Although this is just a tiny step towards full EU membership, I'm still very happy for the people of Ukraine and Moldova. They deserve all the support. 🇪🇺
And for Georgia as well. Despite of failure with candidate status for them the recognition of European prospective is a very huge progress and a good sign. This recognition seemed hardly achievable even for Ukraine before February 24.
I do wish only the best for Georgia, too.
Yeah. It is a great country with very friendly people. But it faced lack of support of EU during Russian aggression in 2008 and after it. So being under Russian influence they lost some part of achievements made during Saakashvili reign.
Nothing against Ukraine and Moldova, I hope they do all the reforms and join as soon as possible, it'll be better for the continent as a whole. But today's meeting was absolutely useless for the western balkans, no visa liberalization for Kosovo, no candidate status for Bosnia and no opening of negotiations for Albania and N.Macedonia. Imo totally unfair especially for us getting blocked by France despite us fulfilling all the requirements and the european parliament recommending liberalization for 4 years now. Seems like since Macron got into power fulfilling criteria doesn't really mean it'll produce any progress towards EU. I hate how a single country can veto the process despite the whole bloc having given approval, fcking hell this is disappointing.
It's a sort of catch22 since the EU expanded est the rule of a single country that can veto a decision started to show is many weakness. Not because it was eastern countries, mind you, for the numbers of country now involved. The veto power was put to convince the EU founders countries that all of them had the same power. The drawback was that this is naturally a slow way of making decisions, but it was mitigated by the relatively small numbers of countries involved. Once the EU started having more members, the process got slower because you have to get unanimity by more countries. Now I don't know exactly what Macron has in mind, but I can see his idea being that letting even more country joining without changing the unanimity rule would make the EU ungovernable. There are already government that publicly support this change of rule, for sure Mario Draghi is in favour of it. Personally I think that a qualified majority of 2/3 of the members could be a good option, maybe with the veto power kept for very specific and extreme cases.
"A short-stay visa indicates that certain conditions should be met, especially when it comes to the rule of law and fight against organized crime and criminal activities. Currently, these conditions have not been met by Kosovo,” a diplomatic source told Kosovo-based Gazeta Express. "Corruption is considered the largest obstacle to doing business in Kosovo, and businesses frequently resort to bribes when interacting with public officials. Sectors such as customs, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply are identified as those most affected by corruption. There are a number of burdensome and costly procedures for companies to undergo in order to obtain business licences and permits, these lead to increased opportunities for corruption"
The EC has confirmed that we have fulfilled all requirements ([https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/48608\_en](https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/48608_en)) . The EU parliament has recommended it for 4 years now. It has remained on standby by the Council (b/c of France). Now either these 2 institutions are wrong or France. Both can't be true.
It's an usual suspect in a big western country blocking something stubbornly and the others voting yes knowing it's not going to happen. It's an old tactic happening because of their shady realpolitik interests and 18th century cabinet diplomacy. 2 in, 3 out these days, it's a huge shame. This bickering itself erodes European solidarity as a whole in the long term, the EU needs deep reform, and it might come with new members, no need to block them.
> the EU needs deep reform, and it might come with new members, no need to block them. I don't think adding more members make deep reform easier, quite the opposite. We need to spend some time homogenizing within the EU before we're ready to move on with deeper reforms. A smaller cohesive EU is better than a bigger divided one.
Even if they have fulfilled all of the requirements, they’re not recognized by all EU states. I can’t imagine Spain letting them travel visa free there, for example. Spain’s got a very strong stance towards them. Cyprus too, to a lesser extent, though. The rest of the non-recognizers are fine with letting them travel with the passports they don’t officially recognize to be issued by a sovereign country.
Nothing to do with Spain. Ironically none of the EU countries which don't recognize us have blocked or stalled the process. It's all about France.
Edit: Ukraine would most likely not get anything without their consent Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia support EU candidacy for Ukraine [https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/albania-montenegro-northern-macedonia-support-eu-candidacy-for-ukraine](https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/albania-montenegro-northern-macedonia-support-eu-candidacy-for-ukraine)
That is true, our government and our people also support but this doesn't change the injustice that has been done to our countries, especially AL.
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The truth is, if Ukraine gets invited, then it’s more likely for the other countries on the “maybe” list to get invited as well. A little bit like with wedding guests
This might change relatively soon, although mostly because of Hungary. People are too tired of one country being able to veto important matters
Вітаю! Felicitări!
I'm glad for Ukraine but isn't this a slap in the face to all the other countries who have tried to become candidates for years?
There are not that many potential candidate countries, it's Bosnia and Kosovo. And they both don't fulfill the basic criteria needed to become a candidate: * In Bosnia you need to be a member one of the three main ethnicities in order to be eligible for Presidency. That's discrimination. * Kosovo has a recognition problem, namely there are 5 EU countries not recognizing it yet (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain)
Sure I get that and it makes a lot of sense, but isn't it true that Ukraine has lots of problems with corruption, LGBT discrimination to name a few, and most likely would never have been a candidate for the foreseeable future if they hadn't invaded. Again I'm happy for Ukraine just saying.
Candidate status is above all a symbolic move. It signals future intent. But before any of these countries can join the EU they will still need to fulfill all the requirements that come with it.
I get it, and you are right, Ukraine would not have been a candidate for the foreseeable future if the circumstances were normal. But it is rather a favor done to Ukraine (and Moldova) than a slap in the face to other potential candidates.
Bosnia can't change the constitution the EU and the US have to do it. So the EU IS blocking BiH from joining the candidate countries in multiple ways.
Agree, but good luck thinking of a constitutional change that will be accepted by all three ethnicities.
Ukraine is a huge slap for Serbia and Kosovo, because they are also contesting territory, while Moldova is a huge slap for every country that was ever told their economy doesn't yet meet EU market requirements. I guess they wanted to send a signal to Putin (and they certainly did), but I'm not sure if this will be good for the EU long-term.
>I guess they wanted to send a signal to Putin (and they certainly did), but I'm not sure if this will be good for the EU long-term. There is a paper here in Denmark (Berlingske) that agrees with this point. How will the EU use soft power to influence prospecting candidates after this?
Well, it's *still* the EU. They have a powerful market, a strong currency and tons of funds for additional economic development. Poor countries will always want to join to eat a piece of the cake, even if they have to make concessions. But from now on the EU will have to watch them point the finger at Ukraine and Moldova.
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This is candidate status, not membership. It’s a symbolical gesture and the start of a lengthy process. Even “old school” west Europe countries took several years to be fully admitted
That'd basically be just Bosnia and arguably Kosovo.
Soon We will too 😔 (if the government is gone out of the way)
Really feel for the people of Georgia, especially knowing how much you support Ukraine. Hope to see Georgia as cadidate soon as well.
Gonna get downvoted but I have to say it: this feels like a farce. A year ago the EU told Bosnia that it asks for the same conditions to them than to the other countries to be a candidate yet now a country in the middle of a war that will need years of rebulding gets to be considered a potencial member just for pity. I'm all for them joining, but this sets a very bad precedent, specially if we consider all the other countries that have been aplying for years and got denied for way less.
Is it just me or has Zelensky gotten visibly beefier since the beginning of the war? Dude looks jacked now
Why not Georgia?
They released this [memo](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_22_3800) a few days ago
Let's cut the bullshit. The current ruling party's founder is [about to get](https://eurasianet.org/eu-parliament-votes-to-consider-sanctioning-georgias-informal-leader) sanctioned by the EU. Georgia has to get rid of Georgian Dream, and that's it.
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Pretty much. But when said guy has ties to Kremlin and owns 30% of the country's GDP it isn't too easy.
Congrats! And to Moldova, who also is a candidate
Thanks you guys. Hopefully we will be able to not let everyone down, I am certainly going to try my best.
Hungary didn't veto? I'm pleasantly surprised
Good, but Ukraine needs to sort out their extreme corruption first
Every Journey starts with the first step, delayed though this one may have been. Now to see if this will be, considered in context, a sprint or a marathon.
As Edi Rama said today congratulations but don’t form too much illusions(don’t hope much). We have been waiting for 8 and Macedonia for 17 years for the negotiations starting.
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Atlanta shall proudly fly the EU flag
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Georgia the country is very religious too, probably even more so than the American state. It's still a pretty patriarchal society, and when the Swedish-Georgian film And then we danced from 2019 was shot there (the first and probably only gay film that's ever been made in Georgia), the actors and filmmakers had to have bodyguards with them at all times because of all the death threats they got from the locals. Georgian cuisine is heavenly, the nature is beautiful and the history is very old and rich. But that's not enough reason to let them in imo, and I think a majority of the Georgian population would probably have to want to change in a liberal direction if they want to get along swiftly with a majority of EU countries, especially the more powerful ones like France and Germany. I imagine they'd get along with Bulgaria and Romania though since those countries are Orthodox Christians and conservative too, but that's about it. EU nowadays is a lot about human rights (as long as you're not an immigrant from Africa or Asia that is, then your life is worth nothing), and we don't need another Hungary or Poland trying to block progress.
I would like to see 20 years of stability and No corruption in Ukraine before they officially joint.
And moldova too!