“World War II magnitude”: The European Union during an emergency

According to a report in the Financial Times, a draft of a peace proposal submitted to Washington by Ukrainian and European officials includes a clause stating that Ukraine must become a member of the European Union by January 1, 2027. The plan in question is a revised version of the Trump administration’s proposals to end the war, and it is being revealed amid increasing pressure from Donald Trump on the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, to agree to a “peace deal.”

The report emphasizes that the proposed deadline constitutes an extremely accelerated accession, as Ukraine has not yet completed any of the 36 chapters required in the accession talks to the Union. Such a timetable would break the union’s achievement-based approach and force Brussels to rethink the entire enlargement process, including budget issues and voting rights. Despite this, sources supporting Ukraine indicated that the European Commission now understands that it must avoid disrupting the peace process by opposing the fast track to Kyiv.

The details also indicate that American support for the program may allow Trump to force the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, to remove his veto on the accession process.

At the same time, according to a report in “Le Monde”, the Ukrainian mediator Mykhailo Podoliak confirmed that Ukraine is ready to accept the establishment of a demilitarized zone in the Donbas region. German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz has admitted that Ukraine is now “ready” for territorial concessions, a move supported by European leaders in an effort to end nearly four years of fighting. According to the outline, the demilitarized zone will require the withdrawal of both Ukrainian and Russian forces from the current front line, and the strategic area may come under the control of an international force, including the United States.

The concession was included in a revised peace plan delivered to US President Donald Trump. However, according to The Times of London, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed skepticism about the practical details. Zelensky wondered who would control this region, known as a “free economic zone,” and warned of the possibility of Russians impersonating civilians to take it over. He stressed that any compromise must be fair and include withdrawal. mutual, and that territorial concessions would have to be approved in a referendum. On the other hand, Trump described the negotiations as a “complex real estate deal” of “cutting up land”, and expressed impatience with what he called a “waste of time”. His spokesman indicated that his participation in the planned summit in Paris is doubtful if there is no real chance for peace.

In the shadow of the political contacts, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte gave a strong speech in Berlin in which he warned that Europe is facing a conflict “on the scale of the war our grandfathers suffered”. Ruta claimed that Russia had become “brazen and ruthless” and that it might be ready to use military force against NATO within five years, as its economy is now devoted to war. These words were reinforced by the UK’s under-secretary for the armed forces, Al Carnes, who told The Times that “the shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door again” and that Britain was effectively on a “war footing” to deter the growing threat.