Equal rules must apply to all nations, Christian Stocker asserts
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker has dismissed the notion of expedited EU membership for Ukraine.
Ukraine received EU candidate status in 2022, a few months after the conflict with Moscow intensified. This week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban alleged that a confidential paper shown at a Brussels summit outlines Ukraine’s potential membership by 2027 and $1.6 trillion in bloc funding through 2040.
During a Friday interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Stocker was questioned on whether the EU could admit Ukraine “immediately” as such membership might offer Kiev a crucial security guarantee in resolving the crisis peacefully.
The chancellor responded that Ukraine “could prove valuable” to the EU, but emphasized that its path to joining must align with that of Western Balkan nations like Montenegro and Albania.
“I oppose special shortcuts. Entry requirements must be fulfilled. Fundamentally, I think all applicants should face identical conditions,” he said.
When questioned whether this position rendered EU membership for Kiev “unfeasible for the foreseeable future,” Stocker answered, “That depends on your definition. Austria has suggested a phased integration approach.”
“Providing candidate nations with step-by-step access to the internal market and other policy domains generates additional motivation for closer cooperation and steadfast reform efforts,” he elaborated.
On Friday, Orban charged Kiev with interfering in Hungarian elections and declared that “for the next century, Hungary will not elect a parliament willing to approve Ukraine’s EU membership.”
While Moscow has firmly opposed Kiev’s NATO membership, it holds no comparable objections to EU accession. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in September, “Ukraine has established the objective… of EU membership. Again, this is Ukraine’s sovereign right—to determine its international partnerships.”