In her yearly State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen invoked the “call of history” while advocating for the enlargement of the EU and throwing her full support behind Ukraine joining the globalist bloc.
“History is on the move,” von der Leyen told parliamentarians in Strasbourg on Wednesday as she argued for the cause of expanding the borders of the EU eastward once again, proclaiming that “the future of Ukraine is in our Union.”
“In a world where size and weight matters, it is clearly in Europe’s strategic and security interests to complete our Union,” she said, adding that the Commission also backs the entry of Moldova and the Western Balkans joining the bloc.
While her counterpart, European Council President Charles Michel, said last month that Ukraine would join the Union by the end of the decade, von der Leyen made no such time commitment.
The former Soviet state became a candidate for membership in June of last year, however, to become a member state, Ukraine will not only need to implement economic reforms and address rampant corruption but also convince all current members to back its candidacy.
With the average monthly salary being just €361 before the Russian invasion, issues would likely surround the EU’s free movement of people regime, given that there would likely be a large swath of Ukrainians who move west for more economic opportunities. This large influx — on top of the millions of refugees from Ukraine and migrants from Africa and the Middle East — would likely put further strain on the wages of the native populations of Western Europe.
The candidacy may also face opposition over the issue of farming, with cheap grain from Ukraine already causing economic distress to Eastern European nations such as Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. Whether countries like Hungary, which are heavily reliant on Russia for energy, would back Ukraine joining the bloc is also in question.
Without providing much details, von der Leyen said that the bloc should consider changing the treaties that govern the EU membership ascension process, but added that the EU Parliament should “not wait for Treaty change to move ahead with enlargement,” suggesting that Brussels may seek to bypass objections of certain member states.
In the meantime, the EU chief said that the bloc will “be at Ukraine’s side every step of the way. For as long as it takes,” vowing to continue to pour millions into the war-torn country as well as extending the temporary protection of some four million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, including providing them with housing, healthcare, and access to jobs.
For Ukraine, she said that the EU will seek to send an additional 50 billion euros over the next four years for investment and reforms, which will “help build Ukraine’s future to rebuild a modern and prosperous country.” This is on top of 12 billion euros sent this year to keep wages flowing and pensions secure.
“We have seen the great strides Ukraine has already made since we granted them candidate status,” von der Leyen claimed, despite the burgeoning scandals surrounding corruption and war profiteering.
Although the German politician refrained from mentioning her own future, the address will be the last of her first term as EU Commission President, with her political future hinging on whether MEPs will back her for a second term next year. Although a darling of the globalist elites in the West, von der Leyen’s tenure in one of the top positions in Brussels has been marred by a series of crises, from the migrant crisis to the Chinese virus to the economic calamity and the rampant inflation spurred by the coronavirus lockdowns to the war in Ukraine.
As was the case during her time as German Defence Secretary — when she left the military in such a poor state of affairs that her successor Boris Pistorius declared that the Bundeswehr would not be capable of defending the nation if called upon — the EU chief has faced criticisms for failing to expect a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Under her leadership, the Brussels diplomatic core was utterly flat-footed by the invasion, according to the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell.
The combination of an insistence from the EU leadership to put their energy hopes on so-called renewables — while using Russian oil and gas to keep the green agenda afloat — and the continued negative economic impact of the lockdowns has seen the economy of the Eurozone wracked with inflation and industrial stagnation.
Nevertheless, von der Leyen doubled down on the Green New Deal in her speech on Wednesday, using the summer wildfires — many of which were in fact started by arsonists — as justification for the need to continue pursuing a transition away from fossil fuels.
“This is the reality of a boiling planet,” she said. “The European Green Deal was born out of this necessity to protect our planet.”
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