BRUSSELS — EU
nations agreed Monday to start the lengthy process of examining membership bids
submitted by
Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova in the wake of Russia's invasion of
its pro-Western neighbor, diplomats said.
اضافة اعلان
The ex-Soviet states last week rushed in
highly symbolic applications to join the bloc after the Kremlin launched its
attack on Ukraine.
The move by the 27 member states is the
first step in the bloc's notoriously complex process for deciding whether to
allow new members to join, which can drag on for years.
EU ambassadors agreed to ask the bloc's
executive to present an "opinion" on the applications from the three
countries, said French officials, who hold the EU's rotating presidency.
The executive can take years to render its
opinion and after that the member states have to agree unanimously to let the
applicant formally become a "candidate".
That then kickstarts a process of
painstaking reforms and negotiations that usually takes at least a decade to
complete.
Ukraine has pleaded with the bloc to be
granted a fast-track to membership as it faces an onslaught from
Moscow's
forces.
While Kyiv has won backing from a number of
EU nations to become a candidate, others are reluctant to commit to opening up
a clear path for the war-shattered country.
EU leaders are set to discuss the
applications this week at a summit in France focused on the war in Ukraine and
the bloc's response to the crisis.
The bid for membership carries major
symbolic weight for Ukrainians as Moscow tries to drag the country back into
its sphere of influence.
A decision in 2013 by Ukraine's then-leader
to reject closer ties with the bloc unleashed pro-EU protests that set in train
a spiral of events leading to
Russia's annexation of Crimea and the
confrontation with the Kremlin.
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