EU says Ukraine's accession in 2027 impossible, but wants to accelerate negotiations

Ukraine will not be able to become a member of the European Union on January 1, 2027, but Brussels hopes to advance accession negotiations as much as possible by the end of this year. This was stated by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos in an interview with Corriere della Sera.

Kos noted that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously mentioned January 1, 2027 as a desirable target date. According to her, accession to the EU remains a process that depends on the candidate country fulfilling all necessary criteria, so such a timeline is currently unrealistic.

At the same time, the EU Commissioner stressed that Russia's war against Ukraine has made EU enlargement one of the key geopolitical issues for Europe. She said that Ukraine will be granted neither separate privileges nor simplified membership criteria, but the EU must help Kyiv navigate this path during the war.

Kos expressed hope that by the end of 2026, as many negotiation clusters as possible will be opened for Ukraine. Currently, EU accession negotiations are divided into six thematic blocks. According to the European Commission, two of them have already been opened: the "Fundamentals of the Accession Process" cluster in June, and "External Relations" in July 2026.

The EU Commissioner also announced a new stage of discussion about the future of EU enlargement itself. On October 6 in Strasbourg, the European Commission is to present proposals for revising the enlargement policy, after which the issue is planned to be discussed by EU leaders at the European Council meeting in the middle of the month.

Among the topics for discussion, Kos named the impact of admitting new members on current EU states, internal reform of the Union itself, mechanisms for protecting the rule of law after new countries join, and the expansion of gradual integration of candidates before formal membership.

According to Kos, such gradual integration should not replace full membership. It foresees that candidate countries may gain access to certain EU opportunities as they implement reforms, but final accession will still depend on meeting all criteria, including in the areas of the rule of law, economy, and implementation of EU legislation.

The European Commission officially emphasizes that enlargement must remain a process based on meeting criteria. Ukraine received candidate status in 2022, and formal accession negotiations began in June 2024.

Based on materials from: Corriere della Sera, European Commission