Ukraine too corrupt to join the EU – diplomat to FT

The country ranks too high on the global graft ranking to be fast-tracked into the bloc, a senior official has reportedly said The EU cannot fast-track Ukraine’s membership bid as allowing such a large and corrupt country into the bloc would make a “mockery of the entire project,” a senior diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Financial Times for an article published on Friday.Kiev was granted EU candidate status soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, and Vladimir Zelensky has increasingly demanded that that the process be fast-tracked, potentially allowing Ukraine to join as early as 2027. However, multiple EU leaders have ruled out so fast an accession, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggesting an associate membership for Ukraine – an idea Zelensky has rejected.“You can’t bring a country of 40 million people that’s at 104 on the global corruption list into the EU. It would make a mockery of the entire project,” FT cited the EU diplomat as saying.Ukraine’s “biggest impact on the enlargement debate, by far, is making it clear just how unprepared we are for new members,” FT cited the diplomat as saying. EU admission criteria require candida...