#EUFridays by JEF Hungary #26
Hanna Velner
May-27-2022
Ukraine will not be a member of the EU anytime soon
According to the French Foreign Minister, Ukraine will not be a member of the EU in 15 or 20 years. “We have to be honest. If you say Ukraine is going to join the EU in six months or a year or two, you’re lying. It’s probably in 15 or 20 years; it takes a long time,” - said Clément Beaune."I don't want to offer Ukrainians any illusions or lies," he added. In parallel, the minister spoke of the need to offer Ukrainians a political community that they can join first, as French President Emmanuel Macron has already spoken about. This will be a European political group that could help Ukraine become part of the EU sooner. This community complements the EU and could be a concrete political project for countries that are not in the "heart" of Europe but want to move closer to the union.The participating countries could benefit from free movement in Europe and the EU budget could offer Ukraine reconstruction assistance. Some EU leaders share France's skepticism about Ukraine's rapid accession, expressing concern that it will take time to rebuild the war-torn economy and curb corruption. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently said he did not support Ukraine's short-term accession to the EU and that the accession process was "not a matter of a few months or years". Moreover the Foreign Affairs Minister of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg said -Ukraine’s joining in the EU would weaken the block.In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made it clear that his country did not need such alternatives and insisted on an immediate start of the process towards full EU membership. At the end of June, Macron's "European Political Community" initiative will be discussed at an EU summit.
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen was awarded
In Aachen, three Belarusian civil rights activists were honored with the International Charlemagne Prize. This prize is one of the most important European awards. Since 1950 it has been awarded to personalities and institutions who have made a contribution to the unification of Europe. The namesake is Emperor Charlemagne. He is considered the first unifier of Europe.The Belarusian activists Svetlana Tichanowskaja, Veronika Tsepkalo and Maria Kalesnikawa were awarded the International Charlemagne Prize in Aachen.Tichanowskaja and Tsepkalo are currently living in exile and were present at the award ceremony in Aachen. Kalesnikawa is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for her protest; her sister accepted the award for her. Numerous guests attended the award ceremony, including the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas and the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst.The three courageous women have defied the dictator of Belarus under the most difficult political conditions, risking their personal freedom and integrity. They stood up for what is at the heart of the European project: human rights, peace and freedom, the rule of law, democracy and solidarity.In a very personal and emotional speech, Baerbock recognized the three as role models for millions of women in Europe.After the award ceremony, a peace rally took place on the Katschhof, in which the award winners took part. The Katschhof was packed,the people celebrated the guests from Belarus and expressed their solidarity with them and their cause.
The Russo-Ukrainian War could lead to a food crisis
Russia and Ukraine are among the world's largest exporters of grain, and some countries are heavily dependent on them for instance Lebanon imports 80% of its wheat from Ukraine and India 76% of its sunflower oil. Before the war, 90% of Ukraine's exports went through Black Sea ports, but now everything is closed. The UN's World Food Programme (which feeds people on the brink of starvation in countries) calls for the immediate reopening of Black Sea ports so that food can flow from Ukraine to countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen, where millions are on the brink of famine. Russia is now calling for some international sanctions to be lifted in exchange for creating a safe shipping corridor, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba has described the offer as "blackmail". The European Commission therefore believes that there is an urgent need to develop alternative logistics routes using all modes of transport. However,Ukrainian wagons are not compatible with most of the EU rail network, so most goods have to be transhipped to lorries or wagons complying with the EU standard gauge. The European Commission has therefore called on the relevant operators to put mobile grain loaders at the relevant border terminals in order to speed up transhipment. We need to act immediately as time is running out to solve the problem. The storages are full, and the summer harvest of wheat, barley and canola is weeks away.