Amid growing threat of Russian aggression, Macron is asked to open negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to EU

Immediate opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU: appeal to EU Council President Emmanuel Macron

Mr. President of the Republic,

The threats to the security and integrity of Ukraine and, beyond, of the whole of Europe, are unprecedented since the end of the Second World War.

On the one hand, some EU Member States have already taken courageous decisions. Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, France, and Poland have decided to provide civilian and military equipment to Ukraine, while Denmark, the Netherlands, and Spain have committed themselves to strengthening the military presence in the region; France is preparing to do the same in Romania.

On the other hand, the European Union is working with the United States and other NATO members on a list of new sanctions to try to ward off a new invasion by the Russian Federation.

While these are steps in the right direction of strengthening deterrence, they may not be enough to ensure stability in Ukraine in the short to medium term.

For these reasons, we turn to you, particularly in your capacity as President of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the hope that you will promote among the other Heads of State and Government an initiative that would make the European Union a truly strategic player in this crisis. Since in 2015 the European Union recognized “Ukraine’s European aspirations” and welcomed “its European choice,” the time has come to give it a real prospect of integration by immediately opening negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, with the aim of its full integration within ten years.

Even if the current crisis does not turn into open conflict, Ukraine will continue to be subject to destabilization operations. The precise and binding timetable of reforms that the accession process entails would be a powerful incentive to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in that country and thus a serious antidote to any future attempts at destabilization. We very much hope that you will take this proposal onto your agenda.

First signatories:

1. Bernhard Altermatt, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of Federalism), Freiburg/Fribourg University
2. Filippos Andrianos, Commodore in the Hellenic Navy (ret.), Greece
3. Antoine Arjakovsky, Co-director of the research department Politics and Religions, Collège des Bernardins, France
4. Mauro Arnò, Brigadier General (ret.), Italian Army
5. Marek Pawel Balt, Member of the European Parliament, Poland
6. Sophie Bilderling-Shihab, journalist, former correspondent of Le Monde in Moscow
7. Annick Bilobran, President of Advule, France
8. Bohdan Bilohotzky, President of the Union of Ukrainians in France
9. Hélène Blanc, Political scientist and criminologist specialising in contemporary Russia and the Slavic world
10. Emil Brix, Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria
11. Susanna Cafaro, Professor of European Union law at the Salento University, Jean Monnet Chair, Italy
12. Vincenzo Camporini, General (ret.), former Chief of Defence, Italy
13. Paulo Casaca, former Member of the Portuguese Parliament, former Member of the European Parliament
14. George Christainas, Major General (ret.), Greece
15. Natalia Czajkowska, Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy, Warsaw, Poland
16. Georges Dallemagne, Member of the Belgian Parliament, President of the friendship group with the Ukrainian Parliament
17. Christophe D’Aloisio, Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Director of the Institute of Orthodox Theology of Brussels, Belgium
18. Francesco D’Arrigo, Founder and Director of the Italian Institute of Strategic Studies « Niccolò Machiavelli »
19. Mark Demesmaeker, Senator, member of the friendship group with the Ukrainian Parliament, Belgium
20. Philippe de Lara, Philosopher, Emeritus Professor at Paris 2 University, France
21. Mark Demesmaeker, Senator, member of the friendship group with the Ukrainian Parliament, Belgium
22. Philippe de Suremain, Diplomat, former French Ambassador to Ukraine, France
23. Martin Dietze, Chief architect, knowledge activist, communicator, Germany
24. Massimiliano Di Pasquale, research associate at the Gino Germani Foundation, Italy
25. Olivier Dupuis, former Member of the European Parliament, Belgium
26. Anne Ferreira, former Member of the European Parliament, France
27. Andrej Findor, Associate Professor at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia
28. Vanessa Frangville, Senior Lecturer and Chair holder in Chinese studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium
29. Francisco José Gan, Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army (ret). Doctor Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Valencia.
30. Jan Gavrila, Major General (ret.), former Under Secretary of State, Romania
31. Aleksandar Georgiev, Colonel (ret), former Senior Bulgarian National Representative to USCENTCOM, Bulgaria
32. Roberto Giachetti, member of the Italian Parliament
33. Anke Giesen, Member of the Boards of Memorial International and Memorial Germany
34. Thorniké Gordadzé, Former Minister of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, Senior Fellow à International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
35. Anne-Marie Goussard, Honorary Consul of Lithuania, France
36. Jarosław Gryz, Professor at the War Studies University, Warsaw, Poland
37. Pär Gustafsson, Senior Analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, Sweden
38. Andrzej Halicki, Member of the European Parliament, Poland
39. Olexiy Haran, Professor, Head of Board of the School for Policy Analysis, Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Research Director, Democratic Initiatives Foundation
40. Rebecca Harms, former Member of the European Parliament and Co-chair of the Green Parlamentary Group, Germany
41. Oleksandr Havrylenko, Professor at the V. N. Karazin National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
42. Richard Herzinger, Columnist, Berlin, Germany
43. Vit Hlousek, Professor of European Politics, Masaryk University, Czechia
44. Marie Holzman, Sinologist, President of Solidarité Chine
45. Ulrich Huygevelde, Coordinator of the Center Géopolis (Brussels)
46. Ladislav Ilčić, Member of the European Parliament, Croatia
47. Antonino Inturri, General (ret.), former Army Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Berlin, Italy
48. Rasa Jukneviciené, Vice-President of the European Parliament, former Defence Minister, Lithuania
49. Radan Kanev, Member of the European Parliament, Bulgaria
50. Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Parliament, former Prime Minister, Lithuania
51. Christian Kaunert, Professor of International Security, Dublin City University and University of South Wales
52. Aleksandrs Kirsteins, Member of the Estonian Parliament
53. Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, Member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm), Poland
54. Eerik-Niiles Kross, Member of the Estonian Parliament, former Intelligence Director
55. Tarmo Kruusimäe, Member of the Estonian Parliament
56. Liliia Kuzyk, Ukrainian jurist, Paris
57. Vincent Laborderie, Lecturer at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
58. Vytautas Landsbergis, former President of the Republic of Lithuania
59. Laurynas Lasciunas, Chairman of National Security and Defence Committee, Lithuanian Parliament
60. Jonathan Littell, Writer, Prix Goncourt, France
61. Jaak Madison, Member of the European Parliament, Estonia
62. Pandeli Majko, former Prime Minister, Albania
63. Spyros Manolakis, Commodore (ret.) Hellenic Navy, Greece
64. Myroslav Marynovych, University Professor, Vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Lviv, Ukraine
65. Khatuna Maisashvili, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia
66. Marian Jean Marinescu, Member of the European Parliament, Romania
67. Aude Merlin, Lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
68. Alvydas Medalinskas, Political Analyst, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament of Lithuania
69. Dace Melbārde, Member of the European Parliament, former Minister, Latvia
70. Pierre Minonzio, Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Lyon
71. Emilio Moffa, Admiral (ret.), Italy
72. Lydia Obolensky, Professor of Russian language and literature, Belgium
73. Boguslaw Pacek, Major General (ret.), Professor at the Jagiellonian University, Advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Poland
74. Carmelo Palma, columnist, coordinator of “Italia europea”, Italy
75. Filipe Papança, Professor at the Military Academy (Amadora), Portugal
76. Žygimantas Pavilionis, International Secretary of Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Member of the Lithuanian Parliament
77. César Pintado, Defence Analyst and Professor in the International Campus for Security and Defence (CISDE), Spain
78. Gianni Pittella, Senator, Italy
79. Elena Poptodorova, Vice President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria; former Ambassador to the US; former Member of the Bulgarian Parliament
80. Andrzej Podraza, Professor, Head of the Chair of International Relations and Security, Catholic University of Lublin, Poland
81. Paolo Puri, General (ret.), Former Military adviser to the Prime Minister, Italy
82. Bronis Ropė, Member of the European Parliament, Lithuania
83. Pedro Roque Oliveira, Member of the Portuguese Parliament, Chair of the Labour Committee
84. Thornike Sharashenidze, Professor, Head of International Relations MA program at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA)
85. Vasile Simileanu, Director of GeoPolitica Magazine, Romania
86. Edvīns Šnore, Member of the Latvian Parliament (Saeima)
87. Gianfranco Spadaccia, former Member of the Italian Parliament
88. Céline Spector, Philosopher, Professeur des Universités, Sorbonne Université, France
89. Ivan Stefanec, Member of the European Parliament, Slovakia
90. Lorenzo Strik Lievers, former Member of the Italian Parliament
91. Michael Struve, Lecturer in Political Sciences, Paris
92. David Stulík, Senior Analyst, European Values Centre for Security Policy, Czechia
93. Marcin Święcicki, President of the European Movement Forum, former minister, Poland
94. Todor Tagarev, Head, Centre for Security and Defence Management, former minister of defence of Bulgaria
95. Dmitri Teperik, Chief Executive at International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Estonia
96. Andreas Umland, Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for East European Studies, Germany
97. Maïrbel Vatchagaev, Chechen historian and political analyst on the North Caucasus at the Jamestown Foundation, co-editor in chief of the journal “Caucasus Survey”
98. Sofia Ventura, Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy
99. Gianni Vernetti, former Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Italy
100. Hartwig von Schubert, Theologist, lecturer at the University of Hamburg, Germany
101. Nikos Votsios, Brigadier General (ret.), former International Relations Director of the Greek Ministry of Defence
102. Vo Van Ai, écrivain, Président du Comité Vietnam pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (VCHR)
103. Witold Waszczykowski, Member of the European Parliament, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Poland
104. Emanuelis Zingeris, Member of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas)
105. Milan Zver, Member of the European Parliament, former Minister, Slovenia
106. And after publication in newspapers:
107. Vera Ammer, translator, Memorial Germany (Memorial Deutschland e. V.)
108. Dmytro Atamanyuk, President of the « Association Aide Médicale Caritative France-Ukraine »
109. Marta Barandiy, founding chair of the Belgian NGO Promote Ukraine
110. Igor Boni, President of ‘Radicali Italiani’
111. Bernard De Backer, Sociologist, Belgium
112. Xavier Galmiche, Writer, professor of literature, UFR of Slavic Studies, Sorbonne University, France
113. Mridula Ghosh, Board Chair ‘East European Development Institute’
114. Mariano Giustino, Journalist, Correspondent of Radio Radicale in Ankara, Italy
115. Roger Higginson, Former Head of the UK Delegation to the Council of Europe’s Culture & Heritage Committee
116. Gerold Hildebrand, Sociologist, Berlin, Germany
117. Nikolay Khramov, entrepreneur, Moscow
118. Alexander Motyl, Professor, Rutgers University-Newark, United States
119. Natalia Ostach, President of the Union of Ukrainian Women in Belgium
120. Anders Östlund, Swedish living in Ukraine, business owner