German FM: If EU assists Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Western Balkans, we get protected geopolitical flank

Annalena Baerbock, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, emphasizes the geopolitical necessity of enlarging the European Union. She argues that if Russia destabilizes Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and the Western Balkans in the long term, it makes all EU members vulnerable to attack from the outside.

Baerbock sees the enlargement as not only a necessity but also a geopolitical opportunity for EU members.

“Moscow of President Putin will continue to try to plow an Imperial trench to Europe, which not only will isolate Ukraine from us, but we’ll also isolate Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkans. Should these countries be destabilized by Russia on a long-term basis, this would mean that we too would all become vulnerable to attack from the outside. We can no longer afford any grey zones in Europe. However, if we support these countries already during the accession process in their efforts to strengthen the democratic institutions, to improve their resilience and to provide an economic perspective to their people. Then we will not only play geopolitical flank but what we will be doing is to strengthen our community,” Annalena Baerbock stated.

German Minister says that the European Union wants Ukraine to become its member.

“We want to see Ukraine a member of our European Union. I’m convinced that the European Council in December is going to send out that signal too. And we know how demanding this process will be for the accession candidates. To carry out such a comprehensive reform process in parallel to being engaged in a war can become a severe test for any country. And this makes it so important that we do more than just say. We assure Ukraine that at the end of the road, they will become a member of the European Union. But we say at the same time, we are at your side as you proceed along this path, financially politically and in material terms.

The same goes for Moldova, which before the 24th of February imported 100% of the gas it needed from Russia. And has now at record speed liberated itself from its dependency on Russia.

This is equally true for Georgia, where we still have so many people being convinced that the road into the European Union is the right one, and where vast parts of the civil society speak out clearly and loudly in favour of EU accession, we will not leave these people alone,” Annalena Baerbock declared.