Austrian Foreign Ministry: Kiev should not be favoured on EU membership

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Shallenberg has said that representatives of the European Union should not give any privileges to Ukraine when negotiating its membership in the economic-political union.

Alexander Shallenberg has said that European leaders should not grant Ukraine any privileges in the issue of negotiations on European Union membership. The Austrian foreign minister specified that Kiev should not be in a more favoured position than representatives of the Western Balkans.

“EU leaders should not favour Ukraine over the Western Balkans when deciding whether to start accession talks next month,” the Austrian diplomat told the Financial Times.

The Austrian foreign minister stressed that it would be a “geostrategic catastrophe” if the European Commission studies the situation in the Western Balkans “under a magnifying glass and Ukraine through rose-coloured glasses”.

Moreover, the diplomat emphasised the need to give Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine a stable position in the orbit of the European Union. According to the Austrian foreign minister, this is necessary to “counter Russia’s influence”.

“You cannot have some groups in the fast lane and others in the service lane,” Schallenberg summarised.

The Financial Times noted that the Austrian foreign minister is a fierce advocate of the gradual enlargement of the European Union. According to the Austrian diplomat, European leaders should change their approach to this issue. Schallenberg specified that if the old order of things persists, “Ukraine will probably never become part of it <…> to a certain extent”.

Earlier, the head of the analytical department of the BCF Bank, Maksim Osadchiy, mentioned that talks about Ukraine’s possible membership in the European Union are political pressure on Russia. In the expert’s opinion, as Kiev does not meet the standards of the Maastricht Treaty.