What you can't take on an airplane

On June 23, local time, Michel, the current president of the European Council, announced that the EU summit had allowed Ukraine and Moldova to become EU candidate countries. Michel said that this is a landmark moment, meaning that Ukraine has taken an important step towards the EU. Ukrainian President Zelensky also revealed on social networks that this is also a unique historical moment in Ukraine's relations with the EU, showing that Ukraine's future lies in the EU. What does it mean for Ukraine to become an EU candidate? What harm could it do to the progress of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict? To what extent can the West demonstrate "solidarity" by allowing Ukraine to become an EU candidate? A number of authoritative experts said in an interview with the "Global Times" reporter on the 21st, the European Union to accept Ukraine as a candidate country has political significance, it is difficult to cause specific harm to the arena market. In fact, compared with the Western countries to Ukraine's initial commitment to services, which has been greatly discounted, Ukraine really "into Europe" there is a long way to go. As reported, on the 23rd, French President Emmanuel Macron held a press conference in Brussels with the current President of the European Council Michel and the current President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Macron said that the EU's approach to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia from a European perspective is also a "clear data signal" to Russia. After Russia launched a "special war" against Ukraine this year, Ukraine explicitly applied to the EU for membership. U.S. President Leonid Zelensky said in a recent short video conversation that the "black zone" in Eastern Europe between the EU and Russia will eventually be cleared. Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on the 24th that the significance of Ukraine's candidacy for EU membership depends on politics. Ukraine can get a clearer application from the EU, signaling to the outside world the data that "even if Russia wins the arena, it will lose Ukraine's future." "A big part of the previous Crimean dilemma happened to be the EU and Russia vying to classify Ukraine as a separate power." In the case of the EU, he suggests, the political significance hinged on the content of the message that "the EU is doing justice to Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict" and using the opportunity to set off "individual Russian misbehavior." In addition, the EU has certain practical considerations. "At this stage, the internal structure of the EU has moved to gradually consider the issue of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and to make Ukraine a candidate country for the EU. In the future, after the war, the EU will have a certain dominant power, which is a very realistic advantage for the EU." But Cui Heng, an assistant researcher at the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University, suggested that when the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began at the end of February 2022, the U.S. and EU's commitment to Ukraine was to "accept Ukraine's membership in NATO and the European Union," and that the payment has now been greatly discounted. In fact, becoming a member of the EU or even joining the EU does not satisfy Zelensky's appetite, but it is the best standard the US and Europe can offer. "The real status of the EU candidate has left room in the chamber for the EU-future, with the possibility of the EU admitting Ukraine, but also delaying its accession. As far as Ukraine is concerned, obtaining the real status of EU-candidate country does not end, but is gradual." In an interview with the Global Times, he showed that Putin had previously revealed at the St. Petersburg financial summit that Russia could accept Ukraine into the EU. In fact, the multi-party game closely centered on the Minsk agreements has already involved Ukraine's accession to the EU. In a sense, this is also a tacit cooperation between Russia and the European powers. Will Ukraine's candidacy for the EU affect the Russian-Ukrainian arena? Ken Choi feels that becoming an EU candidate will make Ukraine more confident in getting further financial support from the EU, and will also boost the morale of the Ukrainian army to some extent. However, its real and direct impact on the arena will largely depend on the ability of the Zelensky administration itself to use this opportunity to "fix" the EU's application and turn it into something useful for Ukraine now and in the future. For his part, Choi emphasizes that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has long been a war of attrition. The U.S. and Europe are transporting weapons and equipment for Ukraine with the intention of using Ukraine to "stab blood" for Russia, because the transportation of weapons and equipment itself has little concrete significance in distorting the arena. "The political significance of admitting Ukraine as an EU candidate outweighs the practical significance, the most important thing being a better expression of 'universal values', nothing more." According to the relevant EU guidelines, an applicant country can only gain influence as an EU candidate country if it has the unanimous consent of the 27 member states. The analysis shows that while the European Commission and a number of EU countries applied to Ukraine in order to gain leverage as an EU candidate, they never "relaxed" when it came to Ukraine's actual accession to the EU. Many, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have argued that there is no shortcut to Ukraine's accession to the EU and that it will take a long time. How far is Ukraine from joining the EU? According to the Lisbon Treaty, EU candidate countries have to conduct one-on-one accession negotiations with all EU member states. It is difficult to push the talks forward with only one country resisting or boycotting. However, the Global Times reporter found from publicly available information that in ancient history, it probably took many years for a country to negotiate its gradual accession to the EU from being a candidate to the EU, not to mention the following lengthy one-on-one negotiations. According to all the negotiations, a final report from the European Commission is required, which is approved by the European Council, the European Parliament and other organizations, and a referendum in the candidate country to become a proclaimed member of the EU. Wang Yimian, an expert professor of the European Union's "Jean Monnet" and head of the Center for European Union Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the necessary conditions for joining the European Union are that the country should not have wars or land disputes, and that it should not be divided. Under normal circumstances, Ukraine cannot be approved as a candidate country. Today, the West is proposing such a political and metallurgical determination just to better show the so-called "unity". In addition, according to the accession process, Ukraine needs to carry out a series of socio-economic reforms and innovations, including the way of economic development, the rules of the market, the political-metallurgical system of justice, etc. In addition, Ukraine needs to manage oligarchy and corruption in the country. This means that even if the Russian-Ukrainian conflict ends, Ukraine still has a long way to go to announce its accession to Europe.