EU exploring phased fast-track for Ukraine membership; Ukrainian official says reforms still required
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Summary
Guests on the program discussed reporting that the EU is preparing a plan that could allow Ukraine to receive phased accession rights as early as 2027; Ivan Kлимпуш Сенцадзе told the program the mechanism under discussion would not change accession criteria but would phase in rights while Kyiv completes reforms.
European officials are reportedly working on a plan that could allow Ukraine to begin receiving some membership rights on an accelerated schedule, potentially as soon as 2027, according to a Politico report discussed on the broadcast.
In an interview on the program, Ivan Kлимпуш Сенцадзе, identified on air as the head of the Verkhovna Rada committee on eurointegration, said the proposal under discussion is a reworked accession mechanism that would not alter the formal criteria for membership. "Критерии не изменяются, то есть мы должны понять критерии вступления не изменяются," she said, adding that the mechanism would allow a country to be recognized as a member and then progressively assume rights and obligations while carrying out required reforms.
Kлимпуш Сенцадзе emphasized that Kyiv must still complete reforms to meet EU standards. She also highlighted the political hurdles that remain: accession requires consent from all 27 EU members, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbe1n has publicly opposed fast-tracking Ukraine. Program coverage noted diplomats27 comments that Article 7 of the EU treaty could, in theory, be used to limit Hungary27s voting rights if member-state behavior were found to violate core EU values.
The guest responded to a Financial Times report that President Volodymyr Zelensky might announce plans for elections and a referendum on a peace agreement on Feb. 24, saying the timing of presidential elections is a matter for the Ukrainian parliament and that such plans were not on the legislature's immediate agenda. "Решение о проведении президентских выборов принимает парламент Украины. Сегодня такого решения парламента не обсуждается," she said.
Kлимпуш Сенцадзе described the proposed approach as geopolitically consequential and warned that the fast-track construct would represent a substantial change in how accession is operationalized, requiring monitoring of reforms and phased integration into internal market segments and decision-making processes.
The program framed the Politico report as reporting from diplomats and noted that the proposal remains a political construct under discussion among EU institutions and member states rather than a settled course of action.