Ukraine Needs To Join The EU Yesterday, But Friends of Trump are Getting in The Way
From left, António Costa, president of the European Council; President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine; and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in Brussels last year.Credit...Nicolas Tucat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Jeanna Smialek Reporting from Brussels New York Times Negotiators agree that joining the bloc is critical to Kyiv’s future. But obstacles abound, and compromises might forever change how the union works. Ukraine wants to join the European Union quickly as a guarantee of its future security and has made that a priority in negotiations for a peace agreement with Russia. Yet Kyiv’s path into the Brussels-based bloc is fraught with obstacles. Joining the European Union generally takes years, and Ukraine’s bid for admission presents economic and governance hurdles. Several solutions are up for discussion, including a plan that would phase in E.U. benefits slowly and a limit to Kyiv’s veto power on critical decisions. Creating a phas...
