Germany Says Ukraine’s EU Entry Is a Matter of Common Security   

Ukraine’s European membership bid is receiving growing support from EU leaders, with a German minister declaring that bringing the country in is vital for the bloc’s security. As the EU gears up to the next electoral cycle, officials are divided on whether a treaty change is necessary before accepting new members.

Upcoming on Visegrad Insight:

• Vitaly Portnikov questions the meaning behind some requirements for Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
• Tetyana Oleksiyuk analyses whether the EU needs foreign agent regulations to counter propaganda.
• An interview with Volodymyr Omelyan, Former Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine.

EU/REGIONAL

• Europe Ministers from Germany, France and Portugal jointly called for the next EU budget to focus on infrastructure, renewables, batteries, hydrogen and food security as well as a “Marshal Plan for Ukraine”.
• The German Minister, Anna Luehrmann, said in an accompanying Politico interview that Ukraine’s membership is of fundamental value to EU security and that the Union will not just wait for Kyiv to meet the criteria but do everything possible to assist.
• “That’s a different mindset. And I think this mindset has really arrived in all EU capitals, also in Brussels,” she said.
• As discussions on how to prepare for enlargement accelerate, the EU’s federalist-in-chief Guy Verhovstadt and five other MEPs launched a blueprint for a treaty change to strengthen the EU powers, including the majority voting, which is anathema to Poland and Hungary.
• Most EU governments are reluctant to review the treaties, and some  EU officials say that a move to majority voting and streamlining the EU’s functioning can be made on the basis of the “passerelle” provisions in the current treaties.
• Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to meet Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday, with the restoration of the grain deal and free shipping in the Black Sea topping the agenda. Since winning this year’s election, Erdoğan seems eager to align more closely with the West and leverage for greater influence in the Black Sea as Russia’s military power bleeds.
• The Three Seas summit is taking place in Bucharest this week, with Greece expected to join the grouping and Moldova obtaining observer status.
• France and Germany are pushing for the extension of softened state aid rules to keep the industrial transformation going. The rules, introduced during the pandemic, are set to expire at the end of the year. Other EU countries have also benefited but argue the two powerhouses have so much clout that they can skew the single market and damage competition.
• European Parliament resumes session on 11 September to discuss the Common Defence Procurement Act and the tightening of internal procedures in the wake of the “Qatar scandal”.
• Elon Musk’s dismantling of Twitter, or X, content moderation allowed the spreading of Russian misinformation on the platform, an EU-commissioned report said.

Ukraine replaces defence minister as offensive pushes through 

UKRAINE