European Commission is exploring a 'membership-lite' model that Kyiv rejects
Expect plenty of smiles, bonhomie, and backslapping in front of the cameras when Europe’s leaders greet Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Thursday’s summit in Brussels.
They will celebrate the EU’s decision to begin formal membership talks with Ukraine this week, a move that is fuelling excited talk of a ‘renewed impetus’ in the EU’s enlargement plans.
But after Zelenskyy leaves the room, the tone will change as the EU’s 27 leaders debate the next steps, amid a flurry of diplomatic proposals to revive the sluggish, if not stagnated, expansion of the bloc, which has grown smaller, not bigger, since Croatia joined in 2013.
“Albania has already taken 11 years, why should we do Ukraine in three weeks?” said one EU diplomat. France and the Netherlands are considered the major obstacles to accelerating Ukraine’s EU membership.
