The EU risks “importing instability” if it relaxes its standards on democracy and corruption to hasten the accession of Ukraine and other candidate countries, Denmark’s foreign minister has warned.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen told the Financial Times his government supported EU membership for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the western Balkans but said “geopolitical circumstances” did not justify skating over governance reforms.
“If you don’t complete the reform process before you enter, then there could be a risk of slowing down afterwards. And we do not export stability, we risk importing instability. And that’s why it is so important to stress the need of fulfilling the [EU membership] criteria.”