Perspectives of the EU Membership for Ukraine: the Main Challenges and Threats

Abstract

With the entry into force of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU the relations between Kyiv and Brussels have reached their peak. At the same time, there are numerous challenges and threats that impede the further deepening of Ukraine's integration into the European Union. The intensification of internal disharmony in the EU after the enlargements in 2004 and 2007 have led to an increase of the enlargement fatigue. The aspirations of some European leaders to first regulate the situation inside the EU and only then to consider the prospects for enlargement potentially threaten Ukraine to stay down in the gray zone between the EU and Russia for a long time. However, the fact that Brussels is continuing a dialogue on enlargement with the Western Balkan countries may be the source for optimism for the Ukrainian side. Citizens of key EU countries consider the high level of corruption and low economic indicators of Ukraine to be the main challenges for the Ukrainian state on its way to membership in the Union. In recent years, despite the ongoing Russian aggression, Ukrainians managed to form an institutional and legal framework to counteract corruption and set the stage for economic growth. This creates grounds for expectations that the impact of relevant negative factors will decrease significantly over time. The position of Russia is the greatest threat for Ukraine's European prospects. After beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the leading states of the world and EU, while implementing foreign policy in the eastern direction, gradually have opted out of the “Russia First” principle. At the same time, the number of achievements of Russian diplomacy in the EU lately confirms that Russia remains one of the key partners of the leading capitals of Europe. Accordingly, now the Russian factor is a major deterrent to Ukraine's EU membership.