Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka said Tuesday there is no alternative to full EU membership.
The demand signals Ukraine's urgency to secure a concrete timeline for integration as the country seeks deeper political and economic ties with the bloc. Kachka said Ukraine is currently falling behind on its accession timeline [1].
In an exclusive interview with Euronews published May 26, 2026, Kachka said the necessity of a complete transition into the union. He said full membership is the only viable path for the country's European integration [2].
To speed up this process, Kachka called on Brussels to take immediate action. He said the EU must open all six [3] accession clusters next month.
Accession clusters are the thematic groups of requirements a candidate country must meet to prove it is ready for membership. By requesting the opening of all six clusters simultaneously, Ukraine is pushing for a compressed timeline to overcome existing delays [1].
"There is no alternative to full EU membership," Kachka said [4].
He further elaborated on the specific requirements for the coming weeks. "The EU must open all six accession clusters next month," Kachka said [5].
“There is no alternative to full EU membership.”
Ukraine's insistence on opening all six accession clusters simultaneously represents a strategic push to move beyond candidate status into active alignment. By framing full membership as the only viable option, Kyiv is attempting to pressure the EU to prioritize political will over bureaucratic pacing, signaling that partial integration or long-term candidacy is insufficient for its national security and economic goals.
