Politico: six EU countries urge Brussels to create roadmap to accelerate Ukraine's membership

A joint letter written by representatives from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and seen by Politico states that the European Union needs to work swiftly on developing a clear plan for Ukraine to become a full member of the community.

Politico noted that the Baltic and Nordic countries have called on Brussels to provide "concrete proposals on how to decisively advance Ukraine’s accession process". This comes at a time when European countries are trying to strengthen their support for Ukraine amid a deepening rift with US President Donald Trump and his administration.

"Reaffirming full and unequivocal commitment to the EU membership perspective of Ukraine, we call for accelerating the accession process," the message reads. 

"The time has come for ambitious and effective decisions in this regard," the diplomats said.

Although European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has publicly suggested that Ukraine could join the EU by 2030, the signatories now want to take steps to ensure that this actually happens.

"Ukraine has demonstrated significant progress in reforms – now it is time to mobilise efforts to help Ukraine make it happen," the letter reads.

The country has been forced to achieve ambitious political, economic and strategic goals while fighting to protect its territory, critical infrastructure and civilians from Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, it is stated in the letter that the enlargement process should be "predictable and based on own merits. Bilateral issues that run counter to the Union’s overall strategic interests must not be used to block progress but rather solved through dialogue in good faith."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has consistently opposed Ukraine's accession to the EU, and his diplomats in Brussels have consistently raised objections during negotiations designed to strengthen Kyiv's institutions and ensure economic and political rapprochement.

Earlier this month, Orbán announced a nationwide poll regarding support for Ukraine's accession to the EU. In a list of 12 demands to Brussels released last week, he said the EU should be "a Union but without Ukraine".

This year, the European Commission announced ambitious plans to open three clusters of Ukraine-EU talks before the end of the Polish presidency in June 2025.

However, in mid-February, it became known that Hungary had blocked the opening of the first negotiation cluster and demanded that the list of requirements to Ukraine be expanded.