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2026-05-27 23:08:09
Ukraine rejects German compromise on EU accession. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected a proposal for Ukraine to gain "partial membership" in the European Union, stating that given the Ukrainian army's role in defending the entire EU against Russian attacks, the country deserves full membership. In a letter to senior EU officials, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine's goal of becoming a full EU member remains unchanged and warned against so-called "half-hearted measures." "We have never viewed membership as joining some kind of 'semi-union'," Zelenskyy said. This statement appears to be Kyiv's clearest response to German Chancellor Merz's proposal to date. Last month, Merz proposed allowing Ukraine partial integration into EU institutions without granting it full voting rights; this move aimed to balance the EU's ambitions for expansion and its commitment to Ukraine with concerns from some member states about the accession process being pushed too quickly.
