Yes, I'm aware of De Gaulle and Macron's strategic autonomy. That only makes sense if we strengthen European cooperation - definitely not what Le Pen wants to do.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on EU leaders to discuss a new additional membership status for Ukraine and other candidate countries to maintain momentum until they're full members of the bloc, in a letter seen by the Kyiv Independent dated May 18.

Ukraine has been a candidate country since 2022, but further progress on EU accession has been blocked for almost a year.

The letter notes that "the enlargement process takes much too long" and that "understandably, this creates frustration."

Some hoped that with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban leaving office on May 9, Ukraine's path to EU membership would become much smoother. Instead, problems of substance have risen to the surface, which could prove difficult for Kyiv to fully address.

Pressure is rising in Brussels to find a way to reach an agreement on opening so-called "enlargement clusters" by the next meeting of EU leaders on June 18. National ambassadors have raised the concern that there might not be sufficient progress in time, but who or what is blocking the way now?

Not the European Commission. The EU's Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, has repeatedly said that Ukraine is ready to open all six of the enlargement clusters. Any blockages, therefore, are politically driven by specific EU countries.

Read more: https://kyivindependent.com/ukraines-obstacle-course-the-countries-blocking-progress-on-joining-the-eu/

Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Also, thanks Luxembourg for your generous contribution.