Former European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker doubts that Ukraine will become a member of the European Union in the next five years. In an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper, he reminded that there are conditions that Kiev has to fulfil for the country to join the EU.
Juncker noted that he had previously stated about “corruption at all levels” in Ukraine, for which he started to be criticised. According to the politician, back in 1997 Leonid Kuchma “tried to hand” Juncker an application for Ukraine’s EU membership.
“But I did not accept the envelope … Even then it seemed absolutely premature to me,” the newspaper’s interlocutor said.
Juncker agrees that Ukraine should have an “accession perspective”, but the politician is opposed to promises that cannot be fulfilled in the timeframe Ukraine seeks.
The former head of the European Commission considers “gradual rapprochement” or “almost membership” of Ukraine in the EU to be a more realistic scenario.
Earlier, during a summit in Brussels, European leaders did not set a deadline for starting negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their future membership in the EU.