As the war in Ukraine is raging on, there is despair, but there is also hope. The hope that one day this war will be over and Ukraine will be a normal European state.

This is the hope to which many Ukrainians are holding on, even while seeking refuge in cellars or running from shelling. This is the hope that Ukrainians have had in their hearts since at least 2014. We have been failing them, leaving them in a "grey zone", hoping this might calm and placate Putin's regime, or simply considering Ukraine unfit even to try and apply for the club.

But this hope was rekindled by Ursula von der Leyen, who on her visit to Kyiv handed president Zelensky an envelope with a questionnaire. Her accompanying words were "Dear Volodymyr, here starts the Ukrainian journey towards joining the EU."

She was supported by a motion in the European Parliament, which, under the circumstances, had recognised that Ukraine merits an opportunity to start the accession process. As Roberta Metsola said during the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast discussion at the World Economic Forum, "Why would we spend, once again, decades hiding behind legalities, when it’s just simply a question of political will?" Furthermore, at the Versailles summit in March 2022, EU leaders were very clear: Ukraine can take the next steps on its European path.

We have since then heard some backtracking on the issue, but we, the YES board members, want to stress that Ukrainians heard the President of the Commission’s promise loud and clear. This is their light at the end of the tunnel - after years of unsteady progress, things have finally changed.

Ukrainians base their claim on their military bravery and the fact that they are fighting not only for the freedom and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also for the free and democratic world. And they have every right to do so.

But there are more reasons. As the think tank CEPS pointed out, Ukraine has become more prepared to apply the Acquis Communautaire thanks to the Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Ukraine is quickly fulfilling many criteria required to qualify as a candidate country. Compared with previous enlargements and with the current enlargement portfolio in Western Balkans, Ukraine is ready to take the next step.

Of course, CEPS’ analysis is also very honest about Ukraine’s lack of progress in fighting corruption, building an independent judiciary system and guaranteeing rule of law particularly in the economic domain. Therefore, we cannot yet claim that Ukraine meets the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership. This is a significant problem.

But this simply means it is difficult to predict exactly how long the accession process will take for Ukraine.

There is nothing in the Treaty which limits the political will of decision makers to start the accession process.

We do not believe there can be any fast-track procedure for Ukraine to join the Union. But there can be a fast decision - we hope at the next EU leaders ' meeting on June 24th - to start the process.

We urge the leaders of the EU to take such a decision based on

• the progress Ukraine has made under the AA and DCFTA review process,
• the clear will of brave Ukrainian people to join the EU (polls put the numbers above 90%),
• and their civil society's capability to support their leaders in necessary institutional development.

In 2014 Ukrainian civil society forced the country's leaders to recognise their choice of a European future and through regime change enacted closer ties with the EU. The war has strengthened the resolve of Ukrainian people in this matter.

With adequate support, Ukrainians can rebuild their nation in full compatibility with the Acquis.

But they cannot do it by themselves. Massive pre-accession support for institution building is needed. All current candidate countries have benefitted from the relevant programs for such support, either the Phare or the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

The Ukrainian IPA will have to be particularly strong. This IPA program, together with the pressure and support of Ukraine’s civil society, will allow Ukraine to overcome corruption and build independent institutions strong enough for the single market.

How long the accession process then takes depends only on the Ukrainian decision makers’ resolve.

And finally, there is a strong economic and political reason to help Ukraine’s institution building at a scale unprecedented for the Union: both member states and other international donors will spend huge amounts of money on rebuilding Ukraine anyway.

To guarantee that spending is transparent and efficient, an EU-created special management model is the best instrument.

The governments of the democratic world, accountable to their taxpayers, can then demonstrate that financial contributions to Ukraine are spent efficiently to help re-build a great European country in line with the requirements of the EU acquis.

In addition, an IPA guarantees not only efficient spending, but also allows donors to phase support according to what is needed: After the initial phase of rebuilding, more continuous and traditional EU structural support combined with multilateral grants and eventually more private sector involvement must come  in and regular institutions must take over.

The dream of the Ukrainian people of joining the EU can be fulfilled – if we support the rebuilding effort also with institution-building capabilities that only the EU and its pre-accession process can provide.

The faster the EU invites Ukraine to start the accession process, and commits to a strong pre-accession support program, the better the outcome will be. Also, remember - we promised! Or at least Ukrainians, seeking shelter from rockets and bullets, think we did. They are not (yet) well-versed in our prose of promise-yet - not, decided-yet- open-to -discussion. We cannot disappoint, we must move ahead, for a better world and a better Ukraine.

The EU’s best geopolitics has always been enlargement. This has not changed through this zeitenwende.

Op-ed by 

Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia (2016-2021), United Nations Secretary-General's Global Advocate for Every Woman Every Child, member of the Board of YES;

Wolfgang Ischinger, President, Munich Security Conference Foundation Council; Chairman, Munich Security Conference (2008-2022), member of the Board of YES;