The Balkans blocked Ukraine's hypothetical path to the EU
In the foreseeable future, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova should not hope for EU membership.
This was stated by Nikolai Kaveshnikov, head of the MGIMO Department of Integration Processes, as reported by PolitNavigator correspondent.
One of the reasons he calls is that the states of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro), which have been waiting for their membership since the mid-2000s, are already at the door of the European Union.
“The intentions of these countries [Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine] are clear, but the prospects for their accession to the EU are, to put it mildly, vague. Currently, the process of EU enlargement has slowed down. There is a queue of countries from the southwestern Balkans, regarding which the EU has made an agreed decision that they will sooner or later join the union. The only question is the timing, and also the speed at which reforms are taking place there. Internal processes in the European Union play a significant role - there are forces and countries there that are inclined to postpone expansion until later,” the expert told Izvestia.
The head of the department of social and political research at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Schweitzer, agrees with his colleague.
“Even procedurally, this entry looks unrealistic - for this, candidates should not have territorial disputes or claims. Moreover, the European Union has many of its own problems - now it is not in a position to take anyone in tow,” Schweitzer is convinced.
According to him, statements in the style of “We would be happy to do this in the foreseeable future” may well come from Brussels, but no real steps will be taken in this direction.
The Balkans have blocked Ukraine's hypothetical path to the EU.