German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed making Ukraine an “associate member” of the European Union without voting rights while Kyiv completes the lengthy process of joining the bloc in full.
Under the plan, outlined in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, Ukraine’s leader would attend EU summits but be unable to cast a vote.
Kyiv would also have a representative at the EC, the bloc’s executive arm, and non-voting members in the European Parliament.
The EU’s mutual assistance clause would apply to Ukraine under the proposal, and the country could benefit from parts of the bloc’s budget.
The German Chancellor first floated the idea with EU counterparts earlier in the year, but the formal letter has put the plan on the table of the bloc’s top officials.
“It is obvious that we will not be able to complete the accession process shortly, given the countless hurdles as well as the political complexities of ratification processes,” Merz wrote.
“What I envisage is a political solution that brings Ukraine substantially closer to the European Union and its core institutions immediately.”
Ukraine has been pushing to speed up its bid to join the 27-nation EU as it fights Russia’s invasion on the battlefield.
Kyiv’s progress had been blocked by Hungary’s nationalist former premier Viktor Orbán, though his ouster by rival Péter Magyar has raised hopes Ukraine could now move forward.
Merz’s plan could face scepticism from both Berlin’s EU counterparts and from Ukraine itself.
Kyiv has been keen to keep up momentum towards joining the bloc and has feared that any suggested interim solutions would see it stranded in a halfway house.
The Chancellor insisted he still wanted Ukraine to eventually become a “full member” and urged the launch of “all negotiation clusters” immediately.
“It would not be a membership light,” he wrote.
Ukraine sees membership of the EU as vital to its future recovery and security, as the United States has effectively closed the door on it joining NATO.
Although the idea would offer Kyiv a foot inside the bloc’s main institutions, critics within several EU member states have warned that an “associate” tier could complicate decision-making at the European Council and dilute the legal framework of full accession.
The Merz letter is expected to feed into broader discussions on EU reforms and enlargement procedures, which the bloc has been weighing as it considers further candidate countries.
