Immediate opening of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union: 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, it 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 recognised “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 destabilisation 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 destabilisation. We very much hope that you will take this proposal into consideration.

First 100 signatories:

Bernhard Altermatt, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of Federalism), Freiburg/Fribourg University

Filippos Andrianos, Commodore in the Hellenic Navy (ret.), Greece

Antoine Arjakovsky, Co-director of the research department Politics and Religions,

Collège des Bernardins, France

Mauro Arnò, Brigadier General (ret.), Italian Army

Marek Pawel Balt, Member of the European Parliament, Poland

Sophie Bilderling-Shihab, journalist, former correspondent of Le Monde in Moscow

Annick Bilobran, President of Advule, France

Bohdan Bilohotzky, President of the Union of Ukrainians in France

Hélène Blanc, political scientist and criminologist specialising in contemporary Russia and the Slavic world, Deputy Mayor

Emil Brix, director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria

Susanna Cafaro, Professor of European Union law at the Salento University, Jean Monnet Chair, Italy

Vincenzo Camporini, General (ret.), former Chief of Defence, Italy

Paulo Casaca, former Member of the Portuguese Parliament, former Member of the European Parliament

George Christainas, Major General (ret.), Greece

Natalia Czajkowska, Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy, Warsaw, Poland

Georges Dallemagne, Member of the Belgian Parliament, President of the friendship group with the Ukrainian Parliament

Christophe D’Aloisio, Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Director of the Institute of Orthodox Theology in Brussels, Belgium

Francesco D’Arrigo, Founder and Director of the Italian Institute of Strategic Studies « Niccolo Machiavelli »

Mark Demesmaeker, Senator, member of the friendship group with the Ukrainian Parliament, Belgium

Philippe de Lara, Philosopher, Emeritus Professor at Paris 2 University, France

Philippe de Suremain, Former French Ambassador to Ukraine. Senior Minister Plenipotentiary, France

Martin Dietze, Chief architect, knowledge activist, communicator, Germany

Massimiliano Di Pasquale, research associate at the Gino Germani Foundation, Italy

Olivier Dupuis, former Member of the European Parliament, Belgium

Anne Ferreira, former Member of the European Parliament, France

Andrej Findor, Associate Professor at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

Vanessa Frangville, Senior Lecturer and Chair holder in Chinese studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium

Francisco José Gan, Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army (ret). Doctor Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Valencia.

Jan Gavrila, Major General (ret.), former Under Secretary of State, Romania

Aleksandar Georgiev, Colonel (ret), former Senior Bulgarian National Representative to USCENTCOM, Bulgaria

Roberto Giachetti, member of the Italian Parliament

Anke Giesen, Member of the Boards of Memorial International and Memorial Germany, Germany

Thorniké Gordadzé, Former Minister of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia, Senior Fellow à International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)

Anne-Marie Goussard, Honorary Consul of Lithuania, France

Jarosław Gryz, Professor at the War Studies University, Warsaw, Poland

Pär Gustafsson, Senior Analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, Sweden

Andrzej Halicki, Member of the European Parliament, Poland

Olexiy Haran, Professor, Head of Board of the School for Policy Analysis, Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Research Director, Democratic Initiatives Foundation

Rebecca Harms, former Member of the European Parliament and Co-chair of the Green Group, Germany

Oleksandr Havrylenko, Professor at the V. N. Karazin National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Dr. Richard Herzinger, Columnist, Berlin, Germany

Vit Hlousek, Professor of European Politics, Masaryk University, Czechia

Marie Holzman, Sinologist, President of Solidarité Chine

Ulrich Huygevelde, Coordinateur du centre Géopolis (Bruxelles)

Antonino Inturri, General (ret.), former Army Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Berlin, Italy

Rasa Jukneviciené, Vice-President of European Parliament, former Defence Minister, Lithuania

Radan Kanev, Member of the European Parliament, Bulgaria

Laurynas Kasciunas, Chairman of National Security and Defence Committee, Lithuanian Parliament

Christian Kaunert, Professor of International Security @DCU & Professor of Policing and Security @USW & Jean Monnet Director (Chair, Centre, Network), UK

Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, Member of the Polish Parliament (Sejm), Poland

Eerik-Niiles Kross, Member of the Estonian Parliament, former Intelligence director, Estonia

Tarmo Kruusimäe, Member of the Estonian Parliament

Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Parliament, former Prime Minister, Lithuania

Vincent Laborderie, Lecturer at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium

Vytautas Landsbergis, former President of the Republic of Lithuania

Jonathan Littell, writer, Prix Goncourt, France

Jaak Madison, Member of the European Parliament, Estonia

Pandeli Majko, former Prime Minister, Albania

Spyros Manolakis, Commodore (ret.) Hellenic Navy, Greece

Myroslav Marynovych, University Professor, Vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Lviv, Ukraine

Khatuna Maisashvili, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Marian Jean Marinescu, Member of the European Parliament, Romania

Aude Merlin, Lecturer at the Université Libre de Bruxelles

Alvydas Medalinskas, Political Analyst, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament of Lithuania

Dace Melbārde, Member of the European Parliament, former Minister, Latvia

Pierre Minonzio, Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Lyon

Emilio Moffa, Admiral (ret.), Italy

Lydia Obolensky, Professor of Russian language and literature, Belgium

Carmelo Palma, columnist, Italy

Žygimantas Pavilionis, International Secretary of Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Member of the Lithuanian Parliament

Filipe Papança, Professor at the Military Academy (Amadora), Portugal

César Pintado, Defence Analyst and Professor in the International Campus for Security and Defence (CISDE), Spain

Gianni Pittella, Senator, Italy

Elena Poptodorova, Vice President of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria; former Ambassador to the US; former Member of the Bulgarian Parliament

Andrzej Podraza, Professor, Head of the Chair of International Relations and Security, Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Paolo Puri, General (ret.), Former Military adviser to the Prime Minister, Italy

Bronis Ropė, Member of the European Parliament, Lithuania

Pedro Roque Oliveira, Chair of the Labour Committee of the Portuguese Parliament

Thornike Sharashenidze, Professor, Head of International Relations MA program at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA)

Vasile Simileanu, Director – Senior Editor, GeoPolitica Magazine, Romania

Edvīns Šnore, member of the Latvian Parliament (Saeima), Latvia

Gianfranco Spadaccia, former Member of the Chamber of deputies, former Senator, Italy

Céline Spector, Professeur des Universités, UFR de Philosophie, Sorbonne Université, France

Ivan Stefanec, Member of the European Parliament, Slovakia

Lorenzo Strik Lievers, former Member of the Chamber of deputies, former Senator, Italy

Michael Struve, Maître de conferences en Sciences Politiques, Paris

David Stulík, Senior Analyst, European Values Centre for Security Policy, Czechia

Marcin Święcicki, President of the European Movement Forum, former minister, Poland

Todor Tagarev, Head, Centre for Security and Defence Management, former minister of defence of Bulgaria

Dmitri Teperik, Chief Executive at International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Estonia

Andreas Umland, Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for East European Studies, Utrikespolitiska institutet, Germany

Maïrbel Vatchagaev, Chechen historian and political analyst on the North Caucasus at the Jamestown Foundation, co-editor in chief of the journal “Caucasus Survey”

Sofia Ventura, Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy

Gianni Vernetti, former Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Italy

Hartwig von Schubert, private lecturer at the University of Hamburg, Germany

Nikos Votsios, Brigadier General (ret.), former International Relations Director of the Greek Ministry of Defence

Vo Van Ai, écrivain, Président du Comité Vietnam pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (VCHR)

Witold Waszczykowski, Member of the European Parliament, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Poland

Emanuelis Zingeris, Member of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas)

Milan Zver, Member of the European Parliament, former Minister, Slovenia

Ladislav Ilčić, Member of the European Parliament, Croatia

Aleksandrs Kirsteins, Member of the Estonian Parliament