Rich countries seek to join the EU - Politico found out if Ukraine can be moved down the queue
Kyiv • UNN
Iceland and Norway want to join the EU for protection. The bloc prefers wealthy candidates over poorer Eastern countries, where Ukraine is also on the waiting list.
US President Donald Trump's distancing from Europe has led to richer countries like Iceland and Norway now seeking EU membership for protection, and for current EU members, admitting richer countries to the bloc is much more attractive than Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, which are on the 'waiting list,' Politico reports, writes UNN.
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"Countries no longer want to join the EU because it will make them richer – now they want it because it will make them safer," the publication states.
As noted, "as the post-war order crumbles and politicians question the reliability of the US, the embrace of Europe, with its offered security, is becoming attractive to more affluent countries like Iceland and Norway, which had considered and rejected EU membership."
"EU membership has always provided stability and prosperity to European countries," EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told the publication. "Now we see that those outside the EU are increasingly realizing that in a world of competing influences, a seat at the EU negotiating table also provides increased security and protection."
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was one of the main factors contributing to these changes. But the most powerful catalyst, according to four diplomats, three EU representatives, and two officials from bloc countries familiar with the discussions in EU candidate countries, was how Donald Trump acted after his return to the White House in 2025.
"Trump's decision to impose tariffs on imports, his administration's national security strategy, which accused the EU of accelerating 'civilizational erasure,' and his threat to seize Greenland – a Danish territory and NATO ally – all pushed countries towards Brussels," diplomats stated.
"Iceland seems to be the first to start the process," as Reykjavik accelerated the timeline for a referendum on resuming EU accession talks. "Part of the picture is geopolitical instability," the country's Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir told the publication.
"We would be stronger in a larger group of like-minded countries that stand for democracy, freedom, human rights, territorial integrity. Not to mention the right of states to self-determination," Thordis said. The appeal of EU membership "is certainly about defense and security, but it is also about our economic security."
For current EU members, admitting richer countries to the club is much more attractive than admitting another group of poorer Eastern countries
As the publication writes, all 13 countries that have joined the EU since 2004 still receive more funding than they contribute to the central budget. "This is likely also true for countries on the official waiting list, including Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro, as EU contributions largely depend on the size of a country's economy," the publication notes.
"Financial considerations mean it will be difficult to convince current members, each of whom must give their consent, of the need to admit these poorer countries to the EU. Existing members will receive an even smaller share of EU funds," the publication writes.
Also working against this group of countries is the fact that current member state governments "fear the strength and longevity of their commitment to fundamental EU values such as freedom of the press, an impartial judiciary, and other democratic freedoms," as three diplomats claim.
"We don't want a repeat of Hungary or Slovakia," said one diplomat close to the discussion on admitting new members to the bloc. "We don't know what will happen in these new countries in 10-15 years. And then we might find ourselves in a situation where we get [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban again."
Wealthy countries with long-standing democratic institutions, such as Iceland and Norway, would not face such obstacles, the publication notes. Both countries are usually among the top ten richest in the world by nominal GDP per capita, while Montenegro barely makes it into the top hundred, and Ukraine is projected to be 132nd in 2026.
"Of course, it would be easier for Iceland or Norway to join," said an EU official familiar with the accession process, adding that "they are practically 80 percent ready" to enshrine EU laws in their legal systems. "If they want to join – and that's up to them – it could happen very quickly," the EU official noted.
The publication notes that "Montenegro, the current favorite for EU membership, and Ukraine, the sentimental favorite, may well complete their negotiations before Oslo or Reykjavik make a decision." Or, the capitals that have blocked any EU enlargement since Croatia's accession in 2013 may continue to veto any new entrants, the publication writes.
"But, caught between Trump's America, Vladimir Putin's Russia, and Xi Jinping's China, existing EU members may also decide that there is safety in numbers," the publication states.
Meanwhile, the publication writes, Ukraine is blocked on NATO membership, and Trump has said it won't happen. With that issue off the table, EU membership is the only security guarantee Kyiv believes it can count on after a ceasefire with Russia.
The security benefits of Ukraine's EU membership would be mutual, officials from both Kyiv and Brussels emphasized.
"We have common interests. Ukraine can strengthen EU defense. Just imagine if Ukrainian border guards, who fought on the front lines, participated in Frontex [EU border agency] missions in the Baltic Sea," said Ivan Nagornyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian government.
For Norway, Iceland, Ukraine, and other countries, the harsh reality of the new world order has begun to make itself felt, the publication notes.
"There is no NATO, no US," said a Ukrainian official. "There are only weapons, drones, ammunition. And there is the EU."