By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday threw her weight behind the European Union granting Ukraine a new milestone next month in Kyiv’s quest for integration in the West as its fights a Russian invasion.
In a passionate speech laying out EU enlargement as a geo-strategic necessity, Baerbock told a conference in Berlin the 27-nation bloc also needed to plough ahead with “tedious” internal reforms to be able to function at 30-plus members.
“We want to see Ukraine a member of our European Union,” said Baerbock, who is with the Greens party that forms part of Germany’s ruling coalition. “The European Union has to be enlarged. That is the geo-political consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”
She spoke ahead of a decision due at a Dec. 14-15 summit of EU leaders in Brussels on whether to grant Ukraine the formal start of membership talks, a coveted goal for Kyiv and its top priority on a par with Western military and financial support.
“I am convinced that the European Council in December is going to send out that signal,” said Baerbock.
“However, an enlarged EU will only be stronger if we do what we have been so hesitant to do for so long – review and rethink the way in which our union functions.”
(Additional reporting by Ferenc Gaal in Berlin; writing by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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