Former European Commission head: Ukraine’s EU integration will require divisive reforms – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

According to Barroso, this is a “fundamental change in the institutional balance.” In other words, the increase in the number of EU member states will create problems when making many decisions related to the union’s foreign policy or budget. And on these issues, Barroso believes, total unanimity is required.

Meanwhile, the EU has many other problems besides Ukraine; The bloc must first “focus on completing the banking union, creating a capital markets union and making progress on geopolitical issues.”

Recall that Vladimir Zelensky signed an application for Ukraine to join the European Union about a year and a half ago. And on June 23 of the same year, EU heads of state at a summit in Brussels granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. Everything stopped there.