Ukraine Set to be Approved as EU Candidate

At the summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukraine will be recognized as a candidate for the European Union (EU)  after approval by the European Commission.

Only four days after Russia began its invasion of Kyiv on February 24, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an official appeal to the EU seeking accession to Ukraine through a new special procedure.

And on June 11, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated the bloc will finalize the evaluation on granting Ukraine EU candidate status.

The first part of the document was submitted to the EU on April 18th and the second part was delivered on May 9th. Candidate status was the first official step towards EU accession, and France said earlier this week there was a "full consensus" on Ukraine, the BBC reported.

However, observers say that even with candidate status, it can take years, if not decades, for Ukraine to gain EU membership. For example, the Western Balkans of Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia have been candidates for many years, even 10 years or more in some cases.