The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, has assured that the EU is not in «conditions» to expand to new members and, in view of the promises made to countries such as Ukraine, has warned of the risk of not fulfilling the «expectations» created.
Costa said that the Russian offensive on Ukraine has put the issue of enlargement «at the center of the debate» in Europe. The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, formally applied for membership and his country already enjoys the status of candidate country, in record time.
He explained during a meeting organized by CNN Lusa that this crisis has put on the table the «multiple promises» made by the bloc over the last few years, for example to the Balkan countries, and he advocated caution when setting horizons, according to the Lusa agency.
«The EU has very clear criteria for the accession of new member states but, unfortunately, it does not have criteria on its own capacity to welcome these new member states,» said Costa, who is in favor of being «clear» before potential aspirants.
«With the current institutional structure, with the current budgetary architecture, the European Union is not in a position to meet the expectations it is creating,» added the Portuguese Prime Minister.
