Russia-Ukraine war: Olaf Scholes calls for other ways to help Ukraine in the short term (File)
Berlin:
Despite Russia’s invasion of the country, Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union cannot be accelerated, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said on Thursday, adding that the bloc needed to find a “quick and realistic” way to help Kiev.
“There are no shortcuts to the EU,” Scholz said. “The acquisition process is not a matter of months or years,” he said.
In April, Scholes called on the Western Balkans to step up their efforts to join the EU in a “new era” in the wake of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
At a summit in Slovenia last October, EU leaders reiterated their “commitment to the expansion process” in a statement that disappointed six candidates for EU membership – Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, northern Macedonia and Kosovo – all of which For a specific schedule.
“Over the years, they’ve been undergoing intensive reforms and preparing to join,” Scholes said Thursday.
“It’s not just a question of our credibility that we keep our promises to them. Today more than ever, their integration is also in our strategic interest,” he said.
The chancellor said he would attend the EU summit in late May with a clear message that “the Western Balkans belong to the European Union.”
Scholz also called for other ways to help Ukraine in the short term, saying the priority was to “focus on supporting Ukraine quickly and realistically.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also said it would take “decades” for a candidate like Ukraine to join the EU and suggested building a broader political club outside the bloc that could include Britain.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)
