Ukraine takes an important step towards EU membership

Editor’s note: This article has been updated after Hungary vetoed financial support for Ukraine

AFTER A DISAPPOINTING week in which it struggled to secure support in Washington, on December 14th Ukraine received some surprising good news from Brussels. The European Union agreed to open negotiations for the country to join the bloc. A mooted €50bn ($55bn) package of aid, however, will have to wait.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will not imminently be sitting around the EU summit tables where such decisions are made. It will take several years, at least, for Ukraine to adopt the reforms needed to fulfil the EU’s exacting criteria to let in a new member. But the green light from the bloc’s 27 existing governments is a strong signal of their continued support for Ukraine’s war against Russia, and their commitment to help reconstruction after it.

There had long been consensus among 26 of the EU’s leaders that Ukraine should be upgraded from candidate status—granted in June 2022—to formally starting membership negotiations. Last month the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, recommended opening talks. The snag lay in Budapest. Viktor Orban, the autocratic Hungarian prime minister, had spent the last few weeks threatening to veto Ukraine’s progress, as every EU government can.

But perhaps not coincidentally, a €10bn slug of EU funds destined for Hungary that had been suspended over its deficient judiciary was released earlier this week. Mr Orban absented himself from the European Council room at the moment of the vote, thus tacitly acquiescing to the move, despite having said on his arrival in Brussels that he was still opposed.

Other countries have also moved closer to EU accession. Moldova, another place harried by Russia, will open formal talks along with Ukraine. Georgia has been designated as a candidate for membership. And a slew of candidate states in the Western Balkans have been swept along by Ukraine’s momentum. Bosnia-Herzegovina will start its accession negotiations next spring if it is assessed to have made progress in converging with EU norms.

The news is not all good for Ukraine. Its government had also hoped for a four-year budgetary-support package worth €50bn, starting from January. The EU offered this in June, but Mr Orban was also opposed. Some other governments had objected to a planned increase of the EU budget, of which the money for Ukraine is a part.

The other 26 national leaders ironed out their differences, but Mr Orban stood firm. They will now return to the question in January. By then the cantankerous Hungarian may again be induced to fold. If not, the EU (or its member states acting collectively without Hungary) will find other ways to support Ukraine financially. That might mean authorities in Kyiv receive money in dribs and drabs instead of a single firm commitment.

The financial imbroglio only partly soured the mood at a summit that many feared would be riven by division and acrimony. Few thought Ukraine would get such an unequivocal accession endorsement from existing EU members; one senior diplomat had predicted that the governments were going to have to try again in March. “This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens,” said Mr Zelensky on X (formerly Twitter).

Now the Americans have to do their bit. President Joe Biden’s proposed $61bn package for Ukraine is held up in Congress by the Republican leadership, with earlier allocations all but spent. Mr Zelensky seemed to make little progress when he visited America this week. The EU’s prevarication on the budget will not help change minds in Washington. But America’s squabbling politicians should note the historic commitment their counterparts in Brussels have made to bring Ukraine into the heart of Europe. ■