Zelensky seeks 2027 EU entry date in peace deal, von der Leyen backs ‘reverse membership’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants a 2027 date for his country’s entry into the European Union written into a future peace agreement with Russia, with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen backing an accelerated “reverse” membership model.

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, January 25, 2026. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File Photo/File Photo

Kyiv is pushing for a specific accession date to be included in a peace deal being negotiated with Russia under U.S. auspices. Before the latest round of talks in Geneva, Zelenskiy said Ukraine would do everything to be ready to join the EU in 2027.

“I want a concrete date,” he tweeted on Feb. 11. “If in the agreement that America will sign, Russia – specifically Putin – I as president of Ukraine and Europe, there is no date, then Russia will do everything to block this process. And not with its own hands, but through European representatives,” Zelensky added.

Hungary is currently blocking the opening of the first negotiation cluster in Ukraine’s accession talks.

The European Commission confirmed last week that Ukraine’s membership is being discussed as one of the conditions of a peace deal. “Ukraine’s accession is indeed the subject of talks, but at this stage nothing can be decided,” Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said on Thursday.

An EU source said von der Leyen supports inserting a concrete accession date into a peace agreement. Given the short time frame, Ukraine’s membership would initially have to be incomplete or “reverse”, as she calls it.

Under this concept, Ukraine would first become an EU member state and then, as reforms progress, gradually join additional areas of cooperation such as cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy.

“Ukraine is already de facto integrated with the EU in several areas, for example it has joined the common roaming area and the electricity grid,” the EU source noted. Under the plan, it could join other areas when the rest of the EU deems it ready.

In this way, the EU would maintain its principle that accession is based on substantive criteria and on candidates meeting concrete conditions, rather than on purely political decisions.

However, a diplomat from one EU country said 2027 was unlikely. “Even if Ukraine were to enter the Union as a second-category member, which they themselves probably would not want, there would still be the question of what that actually means,” the diplomat said.

The EU would have only a few months to decide what rights such a new member would have and in which areas it could participate in decision-making. Capitals backing the accession of Western Balkan states could also demand that other candidates be allowed to use a similarly accelerated track.

Winning approval for “reverse membership” could be another obstacle. Even if Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is now torpedoing Ukraine’s accession process, were to lose power after April’s parliamentary elections, Slovakia and other states that see Ukraine’s membership as a potential challenge might still oppose it.

One option could be von der Leyen’s push to decide by qualified majority rather than unanimity, meaning consent from 15 member states representing 65% of the EU’s population would be sufficient.

On Tuesday, von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa are due to visit Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale attack on the country.

(jh)

Source: PAP

Radio Poland