The window of opportunity to invite Ukraine to the EU is quite small, says the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

“I think that the leaders of the countries who will gather at the Council of Leaders understand that the window of opportunity is quite small and quite short – either we make a geopolitical decision now and a political decision that will allow the European Union to move in the future, or we just shut down and wait for something.” , she said on Friday during a meeting with journalists at the Polish Embassy in Vilnius.

In mid-December, a meeting of EU leaders will be held in Brussels, during which it should be announced whether the bloc will start accession negotiations with Ukraine. This country was granted candidate status in June.

In November, the European Commission reported that Kyiv had fulfilled well over 90 percent of its goals. The EU established the necessary conditions and recommended the start of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

J. Neliupšienė emphasized that the EU must make a political decision.

“Everything is not a technical decision, it’s a matter of political will, I think we have to take it now. The longer we continue, the more we will find some kind of interference,” she said.

“I think that the leaders are really ready to make this decision,” added the vice-minister.

She said that there is currently a debate in the EU about the wave of enlargement.

“Currently, negotiations are underway regarding the Council’s conclusions, regarding how to assess the development report presented by the European Commission. There are countries that believe that both the trio (Ukraine, Sakartvel and Moldova – BNS) and the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia – BNS) must move at the same speed. We believe that everyone should move according to their own merits,” the vice-minister asserted.

Polish Ambassador to Lithuania Konstantas Radziwill told journalists that Poland follows the same position as Lithuania, that due to the greater expansion of the EU, there is no need to change the treaty itself, but it is necessary to review the policies of the community, which are applied in various areas.

“As far as the overall EU treaty is concerned, we really don’t see the need to make any changes due to enlargement.” (…) I think that the position of Lithuania and Poland is similar, that transferring the weight of the decision from the Council of Europe to the European Parliament is not the best solution. Also, the method of voting – whether qualified majority or simple majority – is not good for Lithuania, Poland, or other countries. We are against these changes,” he asserted.

“We are even more against these changes as a condition of development.” We believe that the candidate countries, including Ukraine, need to do their homework, but the EU also needs to do its homework. First of all, without transferring the entire weight of development to neighboring countries,” the ambassador emphasized.

According to him, when such a large country as Ukraine is accepted into the EU, Brussels’ decisions on new agricultural, transport, industrial, and energy policies are necessary.

According to K. Radziwill, the regulation of these worrying issues would strengthen the support of some EU countries for Ukraine’s membership.

“These fears and doubts usually have no ideological basis, they are usually just economic pragmatism. If the EU manages itself in that area, support and approval for Ukraine’s accession and integration will certainly increase,” the ambassador said.

Sakartvel applied for EU membership along with Ukraine and Moldova after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Allowing a war-torn country with more than 40 million people to join the bloc. people, would mean not only a huge change, but also huge costs for the bloc, some countries currently receiving EU funds would become net payers.

Part of the EU states associate this expansion wave with the need to reform the community management mechanism.