Ukraine President Appeals for Immediate EU Accession
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation in Kyiv, Feb. 27, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed Monday for the European Union to immediately admit Ukraine to the bloc, as the country battled a Russian invasion.
Zelenskyy posted photographs of himself on social media signing an application to join the 27-member nation EU. In a video, he said, “We appeal to the European Union for the urgent accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure.”
“We are grateful to our partners for being with us,” Zelenskyy said. “But our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on equal footing. I’m sure it’s fair. I’m sure we earned it. I’m sure it’s possible.”
It usually takes years for any country to officially join the EU, part of a multi-step process that often requires nations to make reforms to reach EU standards.
The head of Zelenskyy's office, Andrii Sybiha, said on his official Facebook page that the documents requesting EU admission "are on the way to Brussels."
The EU has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has offered military assistance to Kyiv as well as imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia and blocked Russian planes from EU skies.
In Photos: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022
1/21Ukrainian police rush a traveler to the railway station terminal during an airstrike alarm in Kyiv, Feb. 28, 2022.
2/21This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the northern end of a convoy at the southeast of Ivankiv, north west of Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
3/21People struggle on stairways after a last minute change of the departure platform for a Lviv bound train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
4/21Russian and Ukrainian officials take part in the talks in the Gomel region, Belarus, Feb. 28, 2022.
5/21Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, leads a meeting on economic issues in Moscow, Feb. 28, 2022.
6/21A woman with her son admitted to oncology walks down the stairs to take shelter in a basement used as a bomb shelter, while the sirens sound announcing new attacks, at the Okhmadet children's hospital in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
7/21A view of the cars which were destroyed by recent shelling in Kyiv outskirts, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022
8/21People fleeing stand in a crowded underpass at a train station to catch a train to Poland, in Lviv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
9/21A woman looks at empty shelves of bread after the curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
10/21Cars are stopped at a roadblock set by civil defensemen at a road leading to central Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
11/21Police officers check people from a suspicious car they stopped, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukrain, Feb. 28, 2022.
12/21A view shows destroyed Russian Army all-terrain infantry mobility vehicles Tigr-M (Tiger) on a road in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
13/21This photograph shows a view of a school destroyed by a fighting not far from the center of Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, located some 50 km from Ukrainian-Russian border, Feb. 28, 2022.
14/21A destroyed armored vehicle is seen in front of a school which, according to local residents, was on fire after shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
15/21A woman reacts to sirens sound announcing new attacks, outside a supermarket in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022.
16/21Refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine warm up near a fire after arriving at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Feb. 28, 2022.
17/21People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine wait to board a bus bound for a refugee center in Przemysl, in Medyka, Poland, Fe. 28, 2022.
18/21Refugees fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine try to stay warm at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Feb. 28, 2022.
19/21Delegations stand for a moment of silence during an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
20/21German Navy ships leave the harbor to reinforce the NATO contingent on the Baltic Sea, in Kiel, Germany, Feb. 28, 2022.
21/21U.S. soldiers with military vehicles gather at a local airport in Arlamow, southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022. President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-West tensions by ordering Russian nuclear forces put on high alert.
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Ukraine’s request comes after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told Euronews in an interview Sunday of Ukraine: "They are one of us, and we want them in."
However, Von der Leyen's spokesperson, Eric Mamer, clarified Monday that the EU chief did not mean that Ukraine could join immediately.
He said Von der Leyen “specified that there is a process (for joining the EU). And I think that this is the important point."
The application for Ukraine to join the EU, even if largely symbolic, is likely to anger Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long accused the West of trying to bring Ukraine under its influence.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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