THE GUARDIAN: Emmanuel Macron says ‘we must be vigilant’ despite eastern member states wanting to show Ukraine ‘path is open to them’
Emmanuel Macron has led western European leaders in rebuffing appeals from Volodymyr Zelenskiy for fast-track EU membership for Ukraine despite the backing of eastern member states.
At a summit in Versailles, the 27 EU countries acknowledged as one the “tectonic shift in European history” caused by Russia’s invasion of its neighbour and vowed to bolster their military might and “strengthen our bonds and deepen our partnership” with Kyiv.
But calls from Ukraine’s president, supported by Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, for a special membership process failed to convince France, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands.
France’s president said he wanted to “send a strong signal in this period to Ukraine and to the Ukrainians” of solidarity but “at the same time, we must be vigilant”, adding that he did not believe it possible to “open an accession procedure with a country at war”.
“Should we close the door and say never, it would be unfair,” he said. » | Daniel Boffey in Versailles | Thursday, March 10, 2022
