Zelensky rejects EU associate‑membership offer, calls for full accession talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, and other EU leaders, calling the proposal for an “associate” EU membership "unfair". He warned that such a status would give Ukraine no voting rights and no real voice in Union decisions, and urged that now is the time to advance full‑scale negotiations for Ukraine’s EU accession.

The associate‑membership idea, floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, would let Ukraine attend EU summit meetings and send a delegate to the Commission, but without voting rights in the Council or the European Parliament. Zelensky noted that the recent resignation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán creates an opening for substantive progress in the accession talks.