“Despite the fact that Ukraine’s accession process to the European Union is dragging on, the German Chancellor has outlined a special plan according to which Kyiv would already now be granted more rights, including the right to apply the EU’s defensive strategy”, - “DW Glavnoe” writes on May 21, citing the publication “Der Spiegel”.
It is specified that in his message to the EU leadership, Friedrich Merz proposes granting Ukraine the status of an “associate member”, under which Kyiv would not immediately receive full membership rights and voting rights, but would be more closely integrated into European institutions. Merz justified such an initiative by Ukraine’s special position due to the fact that it is in a state of war.
In addition, according to the Chancellor, there is significant progress in negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and therefore his proposal should also contribute to peace negotiations initiated by Donald Trump, including through the political commitment of EU member states to apply EU mutual support provisions to Ukraine as well.
According to Merz’s plan, associate member status would allow Ukraine, among other things, to participate in meetings of the Council of the EU and the European Council with voting rights, as well as to participate without voting rights in the work of the European Commission and the European Parliament. In addition, Ukraine could be gradually included in the EU budget and receive extensive security guarantees.