President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought two pieces of good news from European Union in Brussels.
The first is the start of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union.
The second is a major security agreement with the EU, which clearly stipulates the integration of the military sphere into Europe here and now, and a lot of weapons for Ukraine from Western manufacturers who are already counting their profits.
I can honestly say that if this news had happened in peaceful times, the whole of Ukraine would have been celebrating in the streets and champagne would have been flowing.
However, the grief of the deadly attacks on Dnipro and Kharkiv, two of the main frontline hubs, has somewhat erased the understanding of what really happened and why, sometime in the future, we will name one of Pushkin’s former streets after Ursula von der Leyen.
By a good coincidence, a group of Ukrainian journalists, including the author of this article, had a series of meetings with top EU officials in Brussels. So it is worth telling what the EU wants from us and whether it is really interested in Ukraine.
First, Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine has finally forced Europeans to look at Moscow without rose-colored glasses. The interlocutors who shape the EU’s foreign policy spoke in one-on-one conversations about the imperial and colonial attitudes of today’s Russia.
The details of war crimes in Ukraine and the constant threats to throw a nuclear bomb at Paris, London and Berlin have made Europeans think about their future and a new geopolitical strategy, where Ukraine will have a place as the gateway to Europe.
And where Kyiv’s accession will have clear advantages for everyone. Because today the occupiers are dropping KABs on Kharkiv, and then they will not mind attacking the Baltic states, which are not silent and have become the best lecturers on the true nature of Russia in two years.
Officials themselves do not associate the news of the start of accession to the European Union with specific political names, but only with the resistance and determination of the Ukrainian people. “You have paid too high a price,” Peter Stano, Petra Gombalova, and Vera Jourova, the three top officials who work directly with Ukraine, all said.
The best illustration of the too high price is the famous photo from Bucha, where a keychain with a European Union flag was lying next to a blackened hand with a pale pink manicure.
Given the way Hungary, or more specifically its leader Viktor Orban, is behaving, many people are wondering what will happen when our scandalous neighbor holds the presidency of the Council of Europe for six months. Given that right from the start, the Hungarian prime minister has been demanding that Zelenskyy unilaterally cease fire and start negotiations with Russia. He also brought Chinese drafts of a peace plan to think about.
In a conversation with Ukrainian observers, EU spokesman Peter Stano made it clear that Hungary has become an outcast. And its blackmail and arrogant behavior make many people angry. After all, if the always neutral Austria is already asking for Budapest’s voting rights in the EU, this is a loud wake-up call.
– The Hungarian presidency will not have any meaningful influence and may try to delay the progress of things on the European Council agenda within its powers, but in this case, the majority of member states can always put pressure on Budapest and find ways to change the agenda,” Stano said diplomatically.
In less official rhetoric, the diplomat was quite happy that part of this half of the year is eaten up by summer vacation and also overlaps with the top event, the NATO summit in Washington. And by the time Poland takes over the presidency of the EU Council, it will be just a short time away.
For Ukraine, Warsaw’s six-month presidency could be an additional springboard to EU membership
Therefore, I want to believe in the common sense of the two governments and that the horrific stories of grain spillage, border blockades, and mutual cursing on a social network called X will not be repeated.
Russia hates Poland perhaps a little less than it hates Ukraine, as Putin’s interview with Tucker Carlson proved. Therefore, this is a chance for the Poles to move the front away from their borders.
Conversations with top EU officials have made me, as a political observer, nostalgic for the days when parliament and government were the source of discussions and political decisions. European officials sighed heavily at the mention of corruption, the attempt to start a whistleblowing operation in the state news agency Ukrinform, and the problems of the military-industrial complex. They would love to work with identical Ukrainian bureaucrats, but in the absence of such, they are forced to deal with those who were elected by Ukrainians in several elections. Therefore, in the first post-war elections, it is worth thinking carefully about the quality of political representatives, so as not to be embarrassed later.
Why does Brussels see Ukraine as a reassembly of its geopolitical project? The United States is going through its own crisis, and the EU is preparing to work on a plan B when Trump becomes president. Europe is quite sober about China and its desire to put everyone in a slave position. Therefore, Europe is thinking about strengthening its borders and security, where the practical experience of millions of Ukrainians is what is needed.
If the Armed Forces of Ukraine, veterans and volunteers are our most successful export brands, we should use this to the fullest.
There should be more Ukrainian voices in Brussels. Our students should be interns with European parliamentarians. Our analysts should constantly work with experts who deal with Russian IPSO, manipulations and distortions of history. Because as several interlocutors told us off the record: “we see that the lion’s share of Russian know-how is targeted at Ukraine and then goes further to the West.”
When I was a kid, the news on every channel had stories from Moscow and St. Petersburg. So I knew more about the Russian world than I needed to. There should be Ukrainian journalists and analysts in Brussels all the time. Because many strategic political decisions are made precisely because of direct connections and personal sympathy.
Brussels is open to us and ready for serious work. The key is how to attract specialists from the Ukrainian side
Because the heroic aura of Ukrainians and the personal charm of Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy are not enough when it comes to the office routine at the center of decision-making. Somewhere in the business center of Brussels. Where the Ukrainian agenda has to be there 24/7. And where Ukraine should be perceived not as a poor relative, but as an active player, thanks to which Russians on tanks have not yet attached tricolors to EU institutions.
Tags: european union Ukraine
