EU and Ukrainian flags. Archival photoMOSCOW, 25 Jun. The status of an EU candidate for Ukraine is a «dummy», which does not oblige Europe to anything, Christoph Schiltz, a journalist for the German newspaper Die Welt, writes in his article. According to the author, this status of Ukraine and Moldova is only a «signal for people» . «But nothing more, because the obstacles are almost insurmountable. It shows what a theater of absurdity the whole process of joining is,» he said.Readers of Le Figaro condemned the European Commission for drawing Ukraine into the EU. According to him, none of these countries came close to fulfilling the conditions for obtaining this status, this should become a «political signal», which, however, has no legal force. As Schiltz recalls, the EU invented the «candidate for membership» status for the six countries of the Western Balkans to «keep them in good spirits and motivate», however, the previous states that joined the bloc did not receive such a status. «In truth, the status of a candidate is an empty shell that many promises, but does not oblige to anything,» he emphasizes. At the same time, the EU decision, in his opinion, is designed to give Ukrainians a «sense of belonging to Europe» and «reward» them. «Let me be clear: neither Ukraine nor Moldova will become EU members in the next 10-15 years. then the moment happens, both countries will probably have a much smaller territory than today. This candidate status is like pointing a finger at the sky,» the author concludes. The day before, the heads of state and government of the EU at the summit in Brussels approved the granting of candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova to join the union. Those present also declared their readiness to assign candidate status to Georgia after a number of conditions are met. Obtaining such a status is only the first step towards joining the European Union. Turkey was granted it in 1999, North Macedonia in 2005, Montenegro in 2010, and Serbia in 2012. Croatia was the last country to join the EU in 2013, and the process took ten years.
