Immediate EU membership for Ukraine? In conversation with Dimitry Kochenov

On 28 February, in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky officially applied for membership of the EU. On 18 April, it was confirmed that Ukraine had completed the membership questionnaire, with President Zelensky expressing his hopes that Ukraine could become a full candidate state ‘in weeks’. 

This interview, conducted by Rule of Law section editor Oliver Garner, considers the feasibility of immediate EU accession for Ukraine with Prof. Dimitry Kochenov, Professor in the CEU Legal Studies Department and Lead Researcher in the Democracy Institute Rule of Law work group. Dimitry has recently argued that immediate accession for Ukraine is feasible under the EU Treaties for Verfassungsblog, and in an article co-authored with Ronald Janse for EU Law Live.