EU enlargement, strong doubts about the entry of Ukraine and Moldova

  For many, the entry of Ukraine and Moldova, two Eastern European countries to the "European family" consider it impossible without the necessary internal reforms, since this involves huge financial injections. The Guardian reports it. Therefore, the balance between EU countries may change and subsidized EU countries may turn into donors, which will not please the population of European states. According to the newspaper, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has repeatedly invited Ukraine and the other nine candidate countries to join the European Union without specifying precise dates.

However, as the prospect of accepting Ukraine into the bloc looms ever closer, EU leaders are questioning whether the European Union is ready for enlargement and how such a decision would affect the EU budget, which is already exhausted. Poland, Greece or Hungary are unlikely to rejoice in joy, having transformed from subsidized recipients of EU funding to its donors. Furthermore, it is unclear whether Germany and France will be ready to take on a greater financial burden in this regard, writes the Guardian. There are doubts about expanding seats in the European Parliament, which requires additional cash flows. Furthermore, it is not clear whether this parliament will be right-wing or left-wing. The edition reminds that each of the 27 member states can veto the entry of another country, which makes domestic politics an important factor in deciding who will join the EU and who will not.

If an individual state believes that any of these issues are unpleasant to its electorate, it can prevent its membership of the EU. According to the newspaper's source, the European Union countries realized the idea of having to implement internal reforms very late. Events in Ukraine are indicated as the main reason for the actualization of the topic of EU enlargement. Last summer, Ukraine and Moldova were added to the official candidate list, including Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Turkey, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, while Georgia is well advanced in the application process. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has called for the start of official negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova to join the EU next year, the Guardian notes.