EU membership negotiations: Choice between two evils

How long will the talks take?

Let’s break it down.

Official accession talks are the second-to-last stage of European integration.

After that, the final stage is approval by the Council of the EU, the European Parliament, and signing the agreement.

That's good news.

How long can this take?

• The fastest accession took 1 year and 11 months (Austria, Finland, and Sweden).
• The longest took 7 years and 8 months (Croatia).

Most countries take between 4 and 7 years.

But Turkey has been waiting (or not) to join the EU for almost 19 years.

EU leaders hope all countries will join by 2030.

Ukrainians and Moldovans are counting on it too.

But many experts think these countries are still far from European standards.

Plus, there are territorial issues with Russia.

So, their acceptance into the EU might be fast-tracked.

But it all depends on the EU's political will.

The EU faces a tough choice:

Not urgently admitting Ukraine and Moldova into the EU, leaving them vulnerable to Russian influence. 

This is risky, as they might fall back under Russia's control.

Look at Georgia—16 years after their war with Russia, they’re back under its geopolitical sway. 

As a result, their European integration is blocked, and visa-free travel might soon be revoked.

Quickly admitting these countries to the EU. This will require political will, some discomfort, and transformation, but in the long run, it will benefit the EU politically and economically.

Choosing the lesser evil is obvious.

However, political will from the EU isn’t enough; hard work is needed within the countries.

So, we wait.

I predict admission in 5 years. 

By 2030, we’ll be EU members.

Let’s watch and see.

Source

About the author. Viktor Taran, Ukrainian political technologist, publicist, public figure, AFU officer 

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.