Ukraine’s EU membership possible despite unclear borders, diplomat says

This was reported by the negotiator from Poland for EU accession, Jan Truszczyński, in an interview with Slawa.tv.

Jan Truszczyński notes that Ukraine's progress in adapting to European standards is happening quite quickly. The diplomat came to this conclusion by comparing Ukraine's screening results for compatibility with EU norms with Poland's results, which he is well familiar with, as he was a member of the Polish negotiation team for its EU accession.

When asked whether Ukraine's integration into the EU is possible while the war is ongoing, Truszczyński explained that the completion of the negotiation process and the signing of the accession agreement to the EU, as well as its ratification, indeed requires the end of the war. The idea is to clearly know where Ukraine's territory ends and where "something else" begins, so that it is clear where border control will take place and where people and goods will cross the border.

At the same time, the expert says that Ukraine's EU membership is possible even when the final borders are unclear. He refers to the situation of the Republic of Cyprus, which has been an EU member for 20 years, despite the fact that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is separated by a so-called Green Line, which is not an internationally recognized border.

"This is, of course, a bad decision, but it allows Cyprus to be in the EU," says the diplomat.

That is why he insists that attention should be focused on institutional support for Ukraine, so that it can adapt its state, legal, and economic systems to function within the EU, as the issue of territories may not necessarily be an obstacle.

He also believes that by 2030, Ukraine will achieve everything necessary for EU accession and become a member. Truszyński compares it to Poland and Spain — countries of similar size — and argues that Ukraine has every chance to repeat their successes in modernizing the country. In his view, it is important to treat this date as a deadline for achieving the goal.