ROME, December 13. /TASS/. Francesca Donato, a member of the European Parliament, considers the admission of Ukraine to the EU in today's conditions absurd.
"It is absurd to talk about Ukraine's admission to the EU and NATO while there is a conflict. How can we make plans now, when we don't even know who will head Ukraine? No one takes into account the fact that Ukraine will lose the war," Donato said. According to her, the majority of the European Parliament is not interested in accepting Ukraine, but since the line of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is shared by the leaders of the main political groups, which make up the majority, the lawmakers are forced to follow it. Donato said that the main problem is that Ukraine is a "country in economic collapse." "This means that the EU will pay for Ukraine's expenses from the general budget, and this is difficult for national budgets. That is why the whole process of EU enlargement, including the accession of the Balkan states, has come to a standstill. What is there to say about such a null country as Ukraine?" the lawmaker pointed out.
"Behind the scenes, all politicians are tired of Ukraine, no one trusts [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, everyone's tired of giving money because it's getting harder and harder to explain it to their voters. But everyone keeps quiet and pretends to support him," Donato said. She pointed out that it is no coincidence that von der Leyen insists on speeding up the start of negotiations because US President Joe Biden needs a concrete result before the end of his term. The lawmaker stressed that the only thing that can change such a line is the elections in the United States. "I personally doubt that the Democrats will nominate Joe Biden, and it is unlikely that he will be re-elected," Donato emphasized. She believes that in the case of peace talks, Russia's role should be recognized, and the condition for starting them is that Ukraine should remain outside NATO.
The leaders of the 27 EU countries may decide to open accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine and grant candidate status to Georgia at a summit on December 14-15. This was the proposal made in early November by the European Commission, which believes that Kiev and Chisinau have met all the conditions for starting negotiations, and Tbilisi - for obtaining the status of candidate for EU membership.
Italy supports the start of negotiations on the accession of Ukraine, but also insists on the EU membership of the Balkan states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, which have already obtained the necessary status. Rome is also not ready to revise the budget of the community just to find funds for Ukraine.