Rights of minorities and the fight against corruption: the EU will set new conditions for Ukraine’s accession

The European Union intends to present Ukraine with additional conditions for its accession to the community, which are related to the rights of national minorities and the fight against corruption.

This information comes from Reuters.

According to the agency, the Executive Director of the EU plans to present an assessment of Ukraine’s progress on its path to the European Union on November 8. This assessment will be included in the annual report of the European Commission in Brussels, which provides a detailed account of how far countries aspiring to join the bloc have progressed in terms of economic, legal and other criteria.

It is expected that Kyiv will receive a positive recommendation, but with “additional conditions” linked to minority rights and the fight against corruption.

In the conclusion of the Venice Commission from October 9, it was already mentioned that Ukraine should expand the use of languages of national minorities. The European Commission is expected to highlight this in its report.

Subsequently, at the EU leaders’ summit on December 14-15, a decision will likely be made on whether to begin official membership negotiations with Ukraine.

It is worth noting that the former head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, in an interview with Die Welt, suggested that Kyiv should not be overly optimistic about its prospects for swift EU membership. 

According to him, even if Ukraine were a perfect democratic country without any problems, expecting it to join the EU before 2030 would be overly optimistic.