MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Ukraine does not meet any of the fundamental criteria for European Union (EU) membership as it is entrenched in corruption and debts, said Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Other Ukraine movement and former head of the Opposition Platform - For Life party (banned in Ukraine).
The politician recalled the initiative of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to accelerate Ukraine's accession to the EU. This initiative "looks nonsensical because it has neither economic, political, nor legal basis, which shows that it is a mere populism," he said.
"Kiev is entrenched in corruption, Ukraine with its crippled economy is fully dependent on Western aid, the country fails to meet any of the essential criteria for EU membership. Moreover, the situation is deteriorating day by day, the country's economy is failing, legal anarchy is growing, and now there is a dictatorship in Ukraine that is just incompatible with democracy," Medvedchuk wrote in his exclusive column for Smotrim.ru media platform.
The politician went on by saying that Ukraine's economy is now in severe crisis. "The country's GDP has collapsed, industry has been destroyed, foreign debt is growing, and the budget deficit is covered only thanks to financial allocations from the EU and the United States," he said. "Burdened with debt, Ukraine cannot exist without external aid. So, if it joins the EU, it will become a heavy liability for European taxpayers," Medvedchuk noted. "Nevertheless, European officials, who are driven solely by unrealistic ambitions, turn a blind eye to the real problems."
Meanwhile, not everyone in Europe is ready to see Ukraine join the EU, Medvedchuk pointed out. For instance, Hungary strongly opposes its accession to the union. "By opposing Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU, [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban speaks practical sense rather than leads a political game. The Hungarian prime minister has long warned about the destabilizing effect that such a move would have," he said. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico pointed to corruption in Ukraine. Thus, speaking at a meeting of the Committee on European Affairs, he said that ‘the EU is pouring money in, and a huge part of it is simply being lost in Ukraine.’ In addition, Fico explicitly stated that Slovakia would not allocate 'a single cent' for military aid to Kiev, Medvedchuk noted.
"Ukraine's illusory invitations to the EU are nothing more than a means to make it fight further and cling to warfare. Brussiels simply has no real plans for [Ukraine’s] EU membership," Medvedchuk concluded.