Europe's Leaders Must Not Stumble Towards a New Munich
Article by Con Coughlin June 23, 2022 for the Gatestone Institute
Mr Macron, in particular, has emerged as the chief European cheerleader in favour of Ukraine making concessions to Russia to end the fighting, while the leaders of Germany and Italy, which both rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs, are also said to favour Ukraine ceding territory to Moscow – a result that would only whet the appetite of other predators looking on.
Rather than agreeing to their demands, Mr Zelensky responded by pointedly reminding his visitors that the more weapons Ukraine receives from the West, the faster it will be able to liberate its occupied land and end the war.
In this context, plans by the European Union to offer membership to Kyiv represent a welcome gesture of support for the Ukrainian people, one that should provide a much needed morale boost for Ukrainian forces.
In what amounts to a significant geo-political shift in Europe, the European Commission has given its backing to Ukraine's bid to be given candidacy status, the first step towards achieving full EU membership.
The challenge for the EU now will be to make sure priority is given to processing Kyiv's application, and not allow it to become caught up in the stultifying bureaucracy of Brussels.
Any attempt by the EU to delay Ukraine's membership of the bloc will simply be taken as a sign by Mr Putin that Europe is not prepared to defend its allies, and encourage the Kremlin -- and others -- to launch further acts of aggression.
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Europe's Leaders Must Not Stumble Towards a New Munich - by Con Coughlin for the Gatestone
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Plans by the European Union to offer membership to Kyiv represent a welcome gesture of support for the Ukrainian people. However, any attempt by the EU to delay Ukraine's membership will simply be taken as a sign by Putin that Europe is not prepared to defend its allies. Pictured (from left): Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hold a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on June 16, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)