German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine while strengthening the European Union and announced a special summit to discuss bids by Western Balkan countries to join the bloc.
Macron’s visit to Germany took place on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin showcased his military power to celebrate Russia’s victory over of Nazi Germany in World World II and vowed to continue the assault on Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Scholz and Macron pledged to continue their military and financial support for Ukraine. “We agree that Ukraine belongs to the European family,” Scholz said, adding that the European Commission would soon give a recommendation on Ukraine’s request to become an official candidate for EU membership.
Macron said that while Putin’s speech wasn’t marked by verbal or military escalation, an immediate cease-fire continues to be the necessary condition for negotiations to succeed and the eventual withdrawal of Russian troops remains the goal.
“We remain focused on our objective: do everything we can to obtain a cease-fire, help Ukraine negotiate under the terms it will decide, because our stance is to stand by Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Macron said, in his first foreign trip after he was re-elected in April on a promise to strengthen the EU’s integration.
Treaty change
The two leaders said they want to strengthen the EU by allowing the 27-member bloc to take more policy decisions with qualified majorities instead of unanimity in a push to avoid political stalemate.
Germany and France, which are founding members of the European Union and its two largest economies, are discussing possible changes to the EU treaties as the war in Ukraine challenges the bloc’s defense and energy security. Scholz and Macron are seeking to preserve the EU’s decision making even as it looks at taking in new members.
The two leaders agreed to accelerate EU membership talks with several Western Balkan countries after negotiations about political, judicial and financial reforms so far have yielded little progress over the past years.
Macron said EU leaders would hold a special summit with Western Balkan countries shortly before their formal gathering in Brussels scheduled for June 23-24.
Following Russia’s military invasion on Feb. 24, Ukraine is pushing to be granted official candidate status, a step that would kick-start the normally lengthy process for the eastern European country to become an EU member.
But Macron’s proposal to discuss new EU rules at a summit in June is already facing resistance. Nearly half of the EU members, including Denmark, Sweden, Poland, said in a joint statement they are against “premature treaty change” and stressed it’s not time for institutional discussions.
Some EU countries are cautious and want to avoid promising Ukraine too much as they think the EU should first complete its accession talks with the candidate countries on its list before adding any new ones.
