At the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, Sweden agreed to support Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Last week said European Council President Charles Michel that the EU should be ready for enlargement in 2030. In addition to Turkey has Ukraine and six other countries candidate status.
According to Jessika Roswall, Sweden has always wanted the EU to have an open door and the government wants to see an expansion. But unlike Charles Michel, she doesn’t think you should get hung up on years.
– We will see something completely different, I think, she says and continues:
– Are we ready? Do we have the capacity to absorb new members? We don’t really have that yet, we have to have that discussion.
Why 2030?
Göran von Sydow at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies says that it provoked reactions when the Council’s chairman specified a time for enlargement. The reason why it should go so quickly is obvious, according to von Sydow:
– The full-scale Russian invasion and the subsequent Ukrainian membership application, he says in Agenda and explains that it brings with it other countries that must be treated equally.
At the same time, he emphasizes that the time frame does not appear to be particularly likely.
– First the war must end.
“Politically sensitive”
All the countries on the candidate list have “significantly lower prosperity”, according to von Sydow.
– This would mean, if the EU’s budget is not reformed, that a great deal of the resources that now go to many member states would have to be shifted to the candidate countries, he says and emphasizes that it is politically sensitive.
The membership fee, can it be higher?
– If nothing changes, all current member states will have to pay more. Especially Ukraine, which is a large and war-torn country, will need a lot of support for reconstruction, be it within the EU budget or in other ways.
What efforts is Turkey making to get closer to the EU? Hear Jessika Roswall in the clip.