EU agrees on positive enlargement report for Ukraine, avoids "reversal of reforms" narrative
The annual enlargement report prepared by the European Commission for all candidate countries has been agreed among EU institutions in a version that gives a positive assessment of Ukraine's reform progress.
According to European Pravda sources in relevant institutions in Ukraine and the EU, the European Commission explained that the document is balanced and confirms that Ukraine is among the four countries advancing towards EU membership, along with Moldova, Albania and Montenegro. The latter two are said to have made greater progress.
Nevertheless, Ukraine's indicators are also positive, and the progress of reforms over the past year is rated higher than in the previous two years since Ukraine joined the enlargement package.
"Ukraine has continued to show remarkable resilience and commitment to its European path despite the escalation of Russia's ongoing war of aggression including a substantial increase of Russian air attacks against cities and civilian objects that has led to more civilian victims," the agreed text of the report states.
Notably, for the fundamental chapters 23 and 24, which cover justice and the fight against corruption, Ukraine received the same rating as last year – "some progress". This was achieved through improvements in indicators other than anti-corruption, as the European Commission noted "limited progress" in that area and emphasised that an attempt to undermine the independence of anti-corruption institutions had been swiftly "reversed".
Several sources expressed surprise at a leak to Reuters claiming that the report supposedly mentioned negative trends in Ukraine. That report is false – there are no such statements in the document, which was agreed last week and is in European Pravda's possession.
Ukraine's representative to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, told European Pravda in response to its inquiry that he had been briefed by the European Commission and had received assurances that such phrases are absent from the report; the Commission's communication work is still ongoing. The European Commission is expected to officially release the package of documents on the afternoon of 4 November.
However, the report on Ukraine does contain criticism of the country's actions in combatting corruption in July, as well as a phrase stating that "undue pressure on anti-corruption agencies remains a matter of concern".
Overall, the EU did not identify any negotiating chapter in which Ukraine failed to show progress over the past year. Depending on the area, progress ranges from "limited" to "good".
The authors of the document also avoided using the term "reversal of reforms" in reference to the events of July, noting instead that Kyiv must ensure such a reversal does not occur in the future.
European Pravda is preparing a more detailed analysis of the report following its publication.