EU officials reveal biggest obstacle to Ukraine's membership
The European Union is not ready to grant Ukraine fast-track membership. The biggest obstacle to full membership remains the country's high level of corruption, the Financial Times reports.
Corruption concerns and enlargement challenges
According to the report, EU officials acknowledge that without Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine would never have been granted official candidate status.
Concerns over the independence of Ukraine's judiciary and the rule of law remain significant.
"You can’t bring a country of 40mn people that’s at 104 on the global corruption list into the EU. It would make a mockery of the entire project," the Financial Times quoted a senior EU diplomat as saying.
At the same time, Brussels recognizes that abandoning Kyiv is not an option. Officials viewed Ukraine's target of joining the bloc by 2027 more as a "cry for help" from the Ukrainian government than as a realistic deadline.
EU enlargement as a security factor
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, EU enlargement has shifted from being primarily an economic project to a security-driven one. Member states want Ukraine's formidable, battle-hardened military on their team.
However, Ukraine is not the only reason enlargement has stalled. The European Union itself turned out to be internally unready for the admission of new member states.
To address the issue, France and Germany are promoting a "gradual integration" model. Under the proposal, candidate countries would gradually gain access to the EU's single market and key programs as they implement reforms, rather than receiving immediate full membership.
Background
The EU's enlargement process had been effectively frozen for the past decade following Croatia's accession in 2013. Talks regained momentum only after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Alongside Ukraine and Moldova, several Western Balkan countries, including Montenegro and Albania, are also waiting to join the bloc.
Montenegro has so far made the most progress in meeting Brussels' requirements and is considered the leading candidate to complete the technical phase of accession talks in the near future.
How EU attitudes toward enlargement have changed
Ukraine has identified three key priorities to accelerate its path toward EU membership, including strengthening the country's resilience this winter.
Despite these efforts, the accession process remains complex and heavily influenced by political sentiment within the bloc itself.
According to the latest polling, nearly half of EU citizens support Ukraine's accession to the bloc.
At the same time, support has declined in countries such as Poland, Germany, and France, which were previously among Kyiv's strongest backers. In Poland, in particular, nearly half of respondents oppose Ukraine joining the European Union.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outlined three priorities for the country's EU path. However, diplomats say expectations of rapid accession continue to face a cautious response from Brussels due to the bloc's own internal challenges.
