BRUSSELS (AP) - Ukraine's request to join the
European Union may advance Friday with a
recommendation from the EU's executive arm that the
war-torn country deserves to become a candidate for
membership in the 27-nation bloc.
The European Commission's endorsement, while only
a tentative step on a path that could take decades to
complete, would send a strong symbol of solidarity
with Ukraine and further test the EU's united front
against Russia amid the invasion of its neighbor.
Here is a look at what the commission's
announcement on making Ukraine an EU candidate
could mean for the region:
FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE
Ukraine applied for EU accession less than a week
after Russia invaded the country and as the capital,
Kyiv, faced the threat of capture and the Ukrainian
government falling.
The urgency created by the war and Ukraine's request
for expedited consideration could upend the bloc's
go-slow approach to enlargement.
Giving Ukraine candidate status would challenge the
EU's normal playbook for adding members. The
leaders of EU member nations are expected to
consider the European Commission's recommendation
next week.
The leaders face a delicate balancing act: signaling to
Ukraine that the EU's door is ajar while reassuring
other aspiring members and some of the bloc's own
citizens that they aren't showing favoritism to Kyiv.
TO EXPAND OR NOT EXPAND?
The European Union was born in the 1950s to prevent
another war between Germany and France. The six
founding members were Belgium, France, Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Since then, the EU has steadily expanded while
espousing the idea that economic and political
integration among nations is the best way to promote
general prosperity and peace. This approach paved
the way for the creation of the euro currency in 1999
and for the addition in 2004 of 10 new member
countries, most from formerly communist Eastern
Europe.
The euro, which 11 countries initially adopted as their
official currency, highlighted the EU's capacity to
deepen economic and political integration among EU
nations. The "big bang" enlargement five years later
showcased the bloc's ability to widen its reach.
As the biggest military conflict in Europe since World
War Il unfolds on the bloc's eastern border, the EU is
grappling anew with enduring questions about its
ability to deepen and widen, the informal benchmarks
experts use to track the bloc's decades-long
evolution.
WHY IS THERE A LACK OF CONSENSUS?
The internal consensus underpinning such a dual-
track approach to the EU's progression had weakened
years before Russia invaded Ukraine.
The euro-area debt crisis that erupted in 2010, a wave
of mass migration in 2015 and the U.K's shock 2016
referendum decision to leave the EU all contributed to
EU skittishness toward expanding its ranks.
So, too, did the growth of euroskeptic political forces
in many member countries, including Germany, France
and Italy. Some EU nations have accused the
governments in Berlin, Paris and Rome of showing
insufficient political support for Ukraine.