The tone was good when EU summit Ursula von der Leyen met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in early April. – It will not take several years, as usual, to make up an opinion, but be a question of weeks, I believe, she said about a potential EU membership. But since then, several EU countries have expressed skepticism about giving Ukraine a shortcut. It’s not just, just to become a member either, point out experts on EU and Ukraine news has spoken to. Must adapt to criterion EU EXPERT: Jarle Trondal is a professor at the universities of Oslo and in Agder. Photo: University of Agder – First, Ukraine must satisfy a set of criteria, says Jarle Trondal, EU expert and professor of political science at the universities of Oslo and Agder. – Then the country must make adjustments. A full democracy, the rule of law and a free market must be in place, and the administrative and economic system must work, he continued. It is a long time before the country has all this in place, according to Ukraine expert and researcher Jørn Holm-Hansen at Oslo Met. – It is an extremely shaky country, he says about what the status was already before the war. Here are five reasons why Ukraine is unlikely to be allowed into the EU in the first place: Widespread corruption UKRAINE EXPERT: Jørn Holm-Hansen is a researcher at Oslo Met. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news Things are worse in Ukraine than in the most corrupt countries in the EU, even though President Zelenskyj went to the polls to fight corruption, according to Holm-Hansen. – There is also talk of nepotism, that one gives benefits to those one knows. If you break with it, you are often seen as unreliable and a kind of traitor, says the researcher. The country is down to 32 out of 100 points on the corruption index of Transparency International. By comparison, Norway has 88 points, and Poland has 42. POPULAR: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj won support in the fight against corruption, but he also has money in tax havens, according to Pandora Papers. Here from when he was inaugurated as president in 2019. Photo: GENYA SAVILOV / AFP Unfinished rule of law and democracy Ukraine has problems with both the rule of law, the state administration and democracy. – They have a bigger problem than Poland and Hungary, says Holm-Hansen. The country is doing poorly on The Economist Intelligence’s democracy index, and the state of the state is particularly bad. Nor is press freedom completely at its peak, according to the index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). – One must be completely sure that the government can function independently of pressure from interest groups in society who want decisions in their favor, says Trondal. STOP CORRUPTION: Ukrainian authorities say they are blocking an attempt to bribe $ 6 million to stop a police investigation of a gas company in 2020. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP Rikingar controls economy and politics Ukraine has capitalism, but no well-functioning market economy, as the EU required. – The oligarchs, the big capital owners, have great economic and political control, says Holm-Hansen. He points out that the conditions of competition will thus not be the same for everyone. – There is reason to ask whether it is the elected representatives or the oligarchs who decide in Ukraine in peacetime. PROSPEROUS: From left Rinat Akhmetov is the richest Ukrainian oligarch. Here with businessman Vadim Novinsky in February 2022 at a conference in Mariupol. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP Poverty, war and nationalism Ukraine is a poor country with around 43 million inhabitants. It is low wages and low standard of living. – The average salary is 14,000 Euros a year, which is half of what they get in the poorest country in the EU, Bulgaria, says Holm-Hansen. Due to the war with Russia, almost one in three inhabitants may end up below the poverty line, according to the UN. – The EU and Norway will probably spend huge sums on helping Ukraine up and stand that after the war, but the question is whether one should have this into the community as a permanent problem, Holm-Hansen. EMERGENCY AID: Volunteers sort international aid at Kyiv railway station in March 2022. Before the war, they helped the homeless. Now they are helping civilians and soldiers. Photo: DIMITAR DILKOFF / AFP The unstable situation the country has had with Russia since 2014, and the war now, is also not a desirable situation to have within the EU’s outer borders. – I would say it is a political impossibility. The country should be well-established and safe before enrolling in an organization, otherwise the organization will have this problem, says EU expert Jarle Trondal. He is also skeptical about whether Ukraine is fully in line with the EU’s cultivation of diversity, tolerance and community between different ethnic groups. ANTI-LGBT: Right-wing radical activists in clash with police. They wanted to prevent the “Rave Pride” event on July 30, 2021. LGBT activists demanded the breakthrough of a law that protected their rights. Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP Unfair to give a shortcut in Although the EU first signaled that the process could be shortened, Germany, among others, believes that a shortcut to Ukraine is unfair to countries in the Western Balkans. For several years they have been preparing to become worthy members. France believes it can take at least 15 years to process the application for membership, according to NTB. All EU countries must be the same in releasing to new member states, and whether it will be a shortcut or not. – Ukraine can achieve candidate status, but will probably have to go through long processes where one goes point by point to satisfy the criteria for membership, says Trondal. THESE DECISION: The tenants of the EU countries must agree on new memberships. The next meeting is at the end of June. Photo: JOHANNA GERON / Reuters Possible solutions – Either Ukraine must step up sharply, or the EU must become a looser union than today, and give up what has our main driving force: closer integration, says Holm-Hansen. Should one be optimistic, the Ukraine expert points out that the invasion may lead to rapid improvements. – The chaos that prevails there now and the society that the invasion has led to, can contribute to Ukraine making some progress in the future and can solve some of the deeply structural and mental challenges they have struggled with, says the researcher. An alternative is for the EU to advocate a “lighter” type of membership, as proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in May: A European political community where democratic countries can “cooperate on politics, security, energy, transport, infrastructure and migration”. according to Euronews. In that case, it requires extensive changes to the EU system, which must be accepted by all member states. PRESIDENT: France’s Emmanuel Macron is skeptical about giving Ukraine a shortcut into the EU, but proposes a “light” membership. Photo: Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP
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Therefore, Ukraine is unlikely to become an EU member en – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
