Ukraine Is “Light Years” Away From the EU: What Estonia's President Said and How Kuleba Responded

Foreign Minister said Western countries are using the topic of problems with reforms in Ukraine.

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said Ukraine is “light years” away from membership in the European Union. Here is a closer look at her statements and how Ukraine's Foreign Minister reacted to them. 

In an interview with European Pravda in August 2021, Kaljulaid said the EU should be bolder on enlargement, but Ukraine needs “another 20 years of work” to be ready for membership. 

Kersti Kaljulaid
President of Estonia

I would like the European Union to be bolder on enlargement. There needs to be some solution for the Eastern Partners: either we offer them full membership, or we create a new format for the three states that have ambitions (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, — ed.). 

She noted that she herself supports simple enlargement, but it will take a very long time. 

“There are a lot of conditions for joining the EU. And, frankly, none of your states meets the membership criteria. You will need some 20 years of work before you reach that readiness... All three countries have problems with the courts. You do not meet the requirements for EU membership,” Kaljulaid said. 

According to her, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia might be helped on the path to European integration by some intermediate stage, and the economies of these countries are already integrating with the EU economy. 

The Estonian president emphasized: “We are ready to help with these changes, but the work has to be done by you. And it is hard work.” 

Kersti Kaljulaid also believes that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member until it regains all occupied territories. 

Kersti Kaljulaid
President of Estonia

Estonia supports the Membership Action Plan (MAP) and Ukraine's rapprochement with NATO, but it is unclear when this will become possible. First, one must wait for history to turn. 

Asked a follow-up question about whether restoring control over all territory is a condition for Ukraine's NATO accession, she replied: “Absolutely! A solution is needed. I hope through negotiations. Sooner or later.” 

During the YES-Brainstorming forum on September 11, she commented on her statements in the interview and reiterated that Ukraine still has many years of work ahead to get closer to EU membership. 

Over five years, she has not seen Ukraine get closer to meeting the Copenhagen criteria. She also recalled the problems of Estonian investors in Ukraine: “There is a company that went all the way to European justice, but it did not help them. And recently I learned about a company that was approaching a very serious agreement in Ukraine, but a lawyer came to them (I will not say whom he represented) and said that to speed up the agreement they had to give up part of their shares.” 

The president said: “So when people ask why Ukraine is still not in the EU, the answer, in my view, is obvious.” At the same time, Kaljulaid insists she has always been a supporter of EU membership for countries such as Ukraine, Georgia or Moldova. 

Kersti Kaljulaid
President of Estonia

For many years I have been telling your oligarchs: getting closer to the EU will increase the value of your assets. Unfortunately, I have not managed to get through to them, so I am taking this opportunity to repeat it once again. Maybe one day a miracle will happen and they will hear this message — then Ukraine will start moving closer to the EU. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during the forum that Western countries are using the issue of problems with reforms in Ukraine so as not to admit that they are not ready to talk about its membership. 

Dmytro Kuleba
Foreign Minister of Ukraine

I want to be understood correctly — we are supporters of reforms and we are implementing reforms. However, I am frankly tired of being kept on the reform hook so that no one has to admit the truth — it is not Ukraine that is not ready for the path to the EU, but the EU that is not ready to accept Ukraine. 

According to him, relations between Ukraine and the EU today can be described as “strategic uncertainty.” 

“We ask what we need to do for EU membership, but we are not given an answer and are only told to keep working. <...> Accession to the EU depends not only on reforms — it is also a political question. And politically, the EU is not ready to talk about Ukraine's membership. And this does not depend on reforms,” Kuleba said.