Geenstijl

Oh

Dat is wel heel klare taal tijdens Ursula's State of the Union-toespraak [transcript] eerder vandaag zeg. De gehele paragraaf luidt: "We should strive to expand this core of democracies. The most immediate way to do so is to deepen our ties and strengthen democracies on our continent. This starts with those countries that are already on the path to our Union. We must be at their side every step of the way. Because the path towards strong democracies and the path towards our Union are one and the same. So I want the people of the Western Balkans, of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to know: You are part of our family, your future is in our Union, and our Union is not complete without you!"

Eind februari zei ze natuurlijk ook al "Oekraïne is één van ons en we willen ze in de Europese Unie", maar kwam daar later schoorvoetend op terug door in iets andere bewoordingen te erkennen dat Transparency International op 25 januari 2022 (!) nog schreef dat "Ukraine scored 32 points out of 100 possible in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021. Our indicator has decreased by one point, and now Ukraine ranks 122nd out of 180 countries in the CPI. The African state of Eswatini (Swaziland) is next to Ukraine. Zambia, Nepal, Egypt, the Philippines, and Algeria are one point ahead — with 33 points each."

Maar goed, half juni werd Oekraïne alsnog kandidaat-lidstaat. Maar voeg daar meteen Moldavië, Georgië én de Westelijke Balkan dus ook maar aan toe.