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At least 10 members of the European Union are backing Ukraine’s plea to be admitted to the bloc, but senior figures in Brussels and major EU capitals are cool on the prospects for a fast-track admission.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who renewed his appeal for membership on Wednesday, says the country has proved itself a worthy European ally by resisting Russia’s invasion and wants EU leaders to waive the usually protracted application process.
The strongest supporters of his bid are in Eastern Europe, reflecting sympathy in the former Soviet sphere of influence for countries facing domination by Moscow.
A letter from the presidents of eight countries who joined the EU in the 2000s — Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia — said Ukraine deserved an “immediate EU accession perspective”.
It called on the EU to immediately grant Ukraine candidate status, which is currently held by five other countries, and then begin negotiations on full membership.
These typically take 10 years or more and require a country to meet the EU’s standards on issues such as corruption, the environment and the rule of law, all areas where Brussels has identified issues in Ukraine.
The last country to join, Croatia, entered in 2013 after applying in 2003, while other applications such as those from Turkey and North Macedonia have taken even longer. Politicians within the EU have spoken of “enlargement fatigue” after a series of crises in the bloc.
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Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Anti-war protesters attach sunflowers to barriers in front of the Russian embassy. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA -
Children look out from a carriage window as a train prepares to depart from a station in Lviv to the town of Uzhhorod near the border with Slovakia. AFP -
A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo -
Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo -
A civil defence member is poised to shoot as a vehicle approaches a checkpoint in Gorenka. AP Photo -
A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo -
Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA -
Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP -
A woman (right) hugs an arriving passenger from a train carrying refugees at Berlin's central station. EPA -
Firefighters battle a blaze in a Kharkiv police building hit by shelling. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman makes a phone call after crossing the Slovakian border. AFP -
A doctor takes shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters -
Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters -
MPs in London give a standing ovation to Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, who was in the public gallery. AP -
Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty -
Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters -
Firefighters hand water to people in a Ukrainian train full of refugees in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's police headquarters. AFP -
Firefighters work to contain a blaze in buildings housing the Kharkiv regional police department. AFP -
A woman and her children sit in a tent in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter. AP -
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters -
An elderly woman comforts a child as they take shelter inside an underground station in Kyiv. Reuters -
People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters -
A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters -
A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters -
A blast is seen at Kyiv's TV tower. Reuters -
A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP -
A man walks past the remains of Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to Kyiv. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP -
Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP -
People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP -
A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP -
Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP -
An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP -
Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP -
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters -
US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters -
Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP -
A barricade made of trams, buses and sand bags is seen through the window of car in the northern part of Kyiv. AP -
Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic backed Ukraine’s bid on Tuesday and attached a plea for Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to have their applications accelerated.
“Ukraine is subjected to the aggression of the Russian Federation and we must all provide it with all the necessary assistance, which we would expect if we were in the same situation,” Mr Milanovic said.
Hungary, whose government is normally Russia-friendly but has sided with Ukraine over the invasion, similarly urged EU leaders to put the issue on the agenda.
But any accession would require the consent of the EU institutions and all 27 current members, and although none of these have openly come out against it, some have indicated they are reluctant to tear up the long-standing process.
Mr Zelenskyy directly lobbied German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to get behind the application, while Lithuania made the same appeal to French President Emmanuel Macron.
A vote by members of the European Parliament calling for a push towards candidate status had mainly symbolic value as the leaders of the European Commission and European Council are still equivocal.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said there was no doubt that Ukraine “belongs in our European family” but said there was “still a long path ahead” to full membership.
She suggested the war with Russia would have to end before any membership bid could go forward, with the fate of Ukraine’s government uncertain in the event of a Russian victory.
Council president Charles Michel said Ukraine’s bid would be taken seriously but said opinion was divided among the member states.
And German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Ukraine was part of the “European house” but that a membership bid was “not something that can be completed in a couple of months”.
She said any successful bid would require a “deep and comprehensive transformation process” and suggested Ukraine should receive the same treatment as applicants in the Western Balkans.
An EU evaluation in 2020 gave a mixed verdict on Ukraine’s progress in tackling corruption, with police work said to have improved but few cases resulting in convictions.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, said it was the wrong time to discuss EU membership, while Austria similarly said a fast-tracked Ukrainian accession would not solve the current crisis the country is facing.
From outside the bloc, Turkey said it wanted the “same sensitivity” to be shown to its own long-stalled membership bid as to the application by Ukraine. Britain, which was historically a strong supporter of expanding the EU, is no longer a member.
The discussions are running in parallel to debates around Ukraine's possible membership of Nato. That possibility was one of the main grounds on which Russia claimed to be threatened by its ex-Soviet neighbour.
