Kyiv slams ‘second-class treatment’ after Scholz dashes fast EU hopes

Kyiv has hit again on the “second-class remedy” of Ukraine after Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz poured chilly water on the war-torn nation being given fast European Union membership.

In a speech on the Bundestag on Thursday morning, Scholz stated he was towards granting Ukraine a “shortcut” to hitch the bloc.

He stated giving Kyiv faster entry can be unfair on nations within the Western Balkans, who’ve been ready years to hitch. 

“The truth that there isn’t any shortcut on the highway to EU membership [of Ukraine] is an crucial of equity in direction of the six nations of the Western Balkans,” stated Scholz.

“French President Emmanuel Macron is true to emphasize that the accession course of is just not a matter of some months or a number of years.” 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested to hitch the EU on 28 February, simply 4 days after Russian troops invaded.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen informed Euronews that “Ukraine is certainly one of us and we would like them within the EU” however there was little progress since. 

Earlier this month, Macron stated Ukraine’s EU bid may take many years.

Tweeting on Thursday, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s international minister said: “The strategic ambiguity concerning the European perspective of Ukraine practised by some EU capitals in recent times has failed and should cease.”

He added the “second-class remedy” of Ukraine had “damage [the] emotions of Ukrainians”.

In the meantime, Scholz insisted enlargement remained in Germany’s “strategic curiosity” within the face of Russia, which already wields highly effective affect over sure nations within the area, particularly within the former USSR.

Nevertheless, he stated this “can also be about our personal safety which can’t exist with out a European and steady Western Balkans”. 

In April, the German chief stated he wished to revive the method of accession of the six Balkan candidates “with all of the pressure at his disposal”.

Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania are all thought of “candidates for EU membership”, whereas Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are “potential candidates”.