UKRAINE | Is EU Membership Really Possible?

On 28 February 2022, as Russian forces approached the country's capital, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, signed a letter formally applying for European Union membership. Moreover, in an impassioned appeal to the EU he called for a special procedure allowing for immediate accession. But is this possible? And is it even feasible?

Hello and welcome! My name is James Ker-Lindsay. Here I take an informed look at International Relations with a focus on territorial conflicts, secession, independence movements and new countries. If you like what you see, please do subscribe. If you want more, including exclusive content and benefits, consider becoming a channel member. Many thanks!

The war in Ukraine has led to renewed interest in both NMATO and EU enlargement. This was thrown into sharp relief by Ukraine's formal request to join the Union, a step that has since been followed by Georgia and Moldova. But while there may be a great deal of sympathy for President Zelenskiy's call for a special process of fast-track membership, this will not happen. Joining the European Union is an extremely complex and lengthy process. More to the point, that process is designed to ensure the integrity of the EU. Its success as the world's most ambitious peace project is built on the interdependence of its members. And that interdependence is built on a vast body of laws and trust in the system that each member will adhere to its responsibilities to respect them. As a result, the accession process is necessarily long and rigorous. A new member must be able to meet the terms of the tens of thousands of pages of the acquis communautaire, the EU's body of laws. More to the point, and in the face of the Russian invasion, it is hard to see what immediate membership would even achieve.

0:00 Introduction and Titles
0:38 Ukraine Applies for EU Membership
1:29 The European Union and Ukraine Compared
2:31 The History of the European Union
4:40 The Process of Joining the EU
6:16 Could Ukraine Join the EU Immediately?
9:23 Other Problems of Ukrainian Membership
11:39 The EU and Ukraine

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KEYWORDS

#Ukraine #EuropeanUnion #Russia
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#Secession #Statehood #Independence "EU
#InternationalLaw #InternationalHistory

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[JamesKerLindsay]

This week saw Ukraine officially apply for EU membership. But while the Ukrainian President has called for a special procedure for immediate accession, is this actually possible? More to the point, and notwithstanding the circumstances of the application, is it something that the EU should explore? What are your thoughts? (By the way, in addition to Ukraine, this week also saw Georgia and Moldova apply for EU membership.)

[AchyutChaudhary]

Update: as of now, 🇬🇪Georgia & 🇲🇩Moldova have also now applied for 🇪🇺EU membership following 🇺🇦Ukraine. Lovely video by the way!

[merocaine]

A couple of years back I was chatting to a friend about the unification of Germany and how it was partially driven by a wave of patriotic war enthusiasm, we also chatted that those foundational wars layed the seeds of its eventually destructive ending. I posited that a war was probably the only thing that could drive further integration, especially in terms of defence and strategic independence. Perhaps this war will be the catalyst for a militerization of the EU project. If they bring in Ukraine and Georgia there would be no option but a militerization of the EU.

[King__Gammer]

It’s very refreshing to see an actual intellectual on YouTube. I’ve watched many political channels with millions of subscribers, but with such poor grasp of geopolitics, and politics in general; it’s painful to watch them.

[NikolaHD]

Fantastic video James! This explains very well every major problem that EU could face if non-ready country joins in. However you mentioned Bulgaria and Romania, i can't talk about Bulgaria, but as i studied in Romania and spent 5 years there, i can say that 15 years after it joined EU, that country is still a mess. Coruption is thriving, building infrastructure is slow and quality is very poor, political influence in jurdicional system is very visible. If we take Ukraine and just forget about war and disputes, do you think that it would be different from Romania now?

[Ganja-Bass]

Thanks for another timely and enlightening video, professor. As someone who studied European Union I have been trying to explain to my friends that there's no fast track membership and things won't go further than a "candidate state" status. Now I see that Georgia and Moldova also filed applications?! Good luck to them :)

[TheShanewalsh]

Informed sober reporting James. We need a million of you Merci.

[jensboettiger]

Pretty sure this would force a declaration of war against Russia due to the mutual defense clause, which means open war between nuclear powers. Not an option

[Boge_Ludi]

As a Bulgarian I can confirm that joining without being fully prepared leads to a number if issues, which remain unresolved for decades. The large number of requirements and monitoring before accession force candidate countries to work harder to "unlock" access. Candidate status and entry are the carrot, which necessitates internal change.
Once a country enters, things slow down. Bulgaria has been bogged down in corruption scandals and slow legislation change, meanwhile the population has crashed - we lost 800 thousand people in 10 years. Access to European markets and low birth rate has lead to a demographic disaster. In that regard some people in media and government have said we can cope with 200 thousand Ukrainian refugees, which would benefit the economy.
Back to EU accession... Since accession to the block, Bulgarian corrupt practices seem to have found new modes of operation within the EU and other member states. That was in a time of peace.
Ukraine is now a highly destabilized country. Weapons have flooded into their territory, the economy wasn't robust to begin with, and the biggest issue - direct Russia-EU confrontation. The Russia of Vladimir Putin has no interest in Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia joining. (My personal utopian dream was for a union, which includes Russia as well. A true Eurasian union, but that has never been a real option.)
The EU is highly unstable. It lost a member state. It has internal issues with Poland and Hungary, it endured an economic crisis, which crippled the economies of southern members. It endured the covid crisis. I wish the west could help Ukraine further, but all leaders know a direct confrontation will further provoke Putin. He will feel vindicated.
In the meantime, as a citizen of a Balkan country, I am worried about all the frozen conflicts in the western Balkans, which are waiting for an excuse to reignite.

[marcusperkins]

You've raised a number of key points I hadn't really considered before James. Very informative as always.

[dainomite]

Thoroughly enjoyed the video, thanks for your take on this quickly developing situation.

[kugul]

Enjoyed the video! Given the situation Moldova in (with a possible threat of invasion & Transnistria), do you think, that unification with Romania will be brought back up? That way it could become an EU and NATO member without the hassle.

[landlordize]

Thanks professor.
I had more or less assumed the EU wouldn't go for it, but it was interesting to hear why it might not be desirable at all.

[aidy]

Thank you for a realistic view on this question.

[rauldominguezcasado]

All your videos are so interesting!!! Thank you so much for good information!!!

[shaneryan]

Great video! You’re the channel I’ve been wanting to find!

[kishorerajselvaraj]

As cogent and comprehensive explanation as one can get. Thank you.

[FlamingBasketballClub]

I came here from VisualPolitik EN. Thank you for explaining the process of European Union membership.
At 3:02 the treaty that was signed on April 18/1951 by The European Coal and Steel Community was Treaty of Paris. Crazy to think that 2021 was their 70th anniversary. April 18/2022 will be the 71st anniversary of this treaty. Amazing!

[omarmohamed]

Well articulated, enlightening and useful. Thanks, James for another interesting and important video.

[jimmyrussl]

I agree with all the points you’ve made I would also like to see a video on your opinions on the sanctions Russia has been given when you mentioned comprehensive sanctions I think that would be an interesting video topic