Ukraine's Half-full Ambition To Fulfill EU's Candidate Criteria

25.11.2022, 11:40 eurointegration.com.ua

Not everything is perfect on Ukraine’s journey towards fulfilling EU candidate criteria, but the EU should do more to help, too. This would help Kyiv progress towards EU accession but would also help build a resilient Ukraine despite Russia’s military aggression, write This piece is eleborated and published as a joint activity of European Pravda and EURACTIV.com. After winning its candidacy bid in June, Ukraine stepped up its EU integration ambition, striving to open accession talks as soon as possible. For that, Kyiv aims to implement seven European Commission-defined reforms by the end of 2022 – an internal deadline set by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which seemed to be overambitious from the start. No surprise that after showing tangible progress in the summer, Ukraine found itself bogged down in agreeing on detailed steps with Brussels and in internal discussions. This slow-down fits the plans of many in the EU, for whom Ukraine’s candidacy came as an unexpected breakthrough decision.