Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose country is facing a massive unprovoked invasion from neighboring Russia, has called on the European Union to grant Ukraine membership under a special procedure immediately, a move bloc officials said was unlikely.
Zelenskiy, whose country is under attack from Russia, appealed to the EU on February 28 "for the immediate accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure."
"Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal. I'm sure that's fair. I am sure we deserve it," he said in a video speech shared on social media.
“Europeans are witnessing how our soldiers are fighting not only for our country, but for all of Europe, for peace, for peace for all, for all the countries of the European Union," Zelenskiy said.
“Ukrainians have shown to the world who we are, while Russia has showed what it has turned into…. Every crime, every shelling by the occupier only unites us more,” Zelenskiy added.
Bloc officials quickly played down the likelihood of any such move for a number of reasons, including the fact that no such fast-track procedure exists.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said joining the 27-nation group is not something that can be done in a couple of months, but Ukraine is part of the "house of Europe" in which it is welcome.
She added that Ukraine's accession would not signal that the EU wished to partition it off from Russia but would reflect a desire to fulfill the wish of many Ukrainians to join.
Potential members usually take years to weave their way through the long and complex process of reaching EU standards through deep-seated reforms in several policy areas.
Those reforms often need to be accompanied by economic and financial changes to show a country is sound enough to compete in the EU and eventually adopt the euro.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that any bid for membership could take "a lot of years," but Zelenskiy's plea did find favor in Prague, where Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said "we must clearly signal at this moment that Ukraine is welcome in the European community of democratic states."
The presidents of eight Eastern European countries -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- signed a letter on February 28 saying Ukraine "deserves receiving an immediate EU accession perspective."
They urged EU members to enable the bloc's institutions to take steps toward granting Ukraine status as an EU candidate country and to start the process of accession talks.