Rethinking Accession
Ukraine’s Path into the EU
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Ukraine’s security is of crucial importance to Europe. Therefore, Ukraine should join the European Union as quickly as possible. EU membership would contribute to a peace agreement with Russia, provide Kyiv a security guarantee, and strengthen the EU’s defense capabilities. However, significant hurdles must be overcome for accession to take place. To date, Ukraine has not yet fulfilled all of the conditions for membership and the has EU to commit itself to the reforms that are necessary so that it remains capable of action following further enlargement. There is a conflict of objectives between the urgency of security policy and the solidity of the integration process. This can be resolved by offer-ing Ukraine an associate membership immediately and a stage-by-stage integration process later on.
(Osteuropa 3-4/2026, pp. 3–14)