Joining the European Union may prove to be an even more overwhelming task for Ukraine than joining NATO. This was stated by Financial Times columnist Tony Barber.
Barber believes that it will be difficult for Kyiv to fulfill the formal requirements for joining the Union, in particular with regard to the rule of law and a market economy. Especially against the background of the fact that it has many competitors – at least eight countries are striving to get into the EU today – Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Turkey. The admission of so many states to the Union will require fundamental reforms of institutions and legislation, for which neither the governments nor the constituents of the member countries, apparently, are ready.
Ukraine, the author of the article notes, being a major producer of agricultural products and, at the same time, one of the poorest countries, may, if it joins, pull over part of the subsidies (up to 65% of the budget) that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe currently receive, which is unlikely to please the political parties and the electorate of these states, because no one wants to give up billions of euros to make room for the Square, says Barber.
Finally, another obstacle on Ukraine’s path to the European Union may be the issue of oppression of the Hungarians in Ukraine.
Thus, the issue of Ukraine’s European integration is the most difficult of all that the bloc has had to face in the entire 70-year history of its existence, the author of the material states.
2023-07-31 18:15:00
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