Proclamations and promises as the EU caravan rolls into Kyiv

good morning In EU corruption news, the European parliament has complied with a police request to lift the immunity of Italian socialist Andrea Cozzolino and his Belgian friend Marc Tarabella, who are accused of receiving cash payments of around €130,000 from foreign governments.

In Kyiv, the top brass of the EU made a proclamation of unity that does not fully reflect the reality of the return of the member states, as our people on the ground explain below. And our Athens correspondent previews Sunday’s presidential election in Cyprus, where everyone is a candidate for continuity.

I got the EU, babe

Ukraine’s meeting with visiting EU high officials in Kyiv was as technocratic as one would expect from meetings with the European Commission, write Sam Fleming.

Context: Ukraine is an official candidate country of the European Union and wants to accede as soon as possible. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described yesterday’s meetings as a “day of European integration”. But many existing member states are not enthusiastic about the future membership.

While officials repeatedly emphasized the symbolism of holding discussions in Kyiv, the details of the real policy pursued by both sides came down to earth: Ukraine’s participation in EU gas purchases, mobile phone roaming charges, and how to improve insurance coverage in war-torn countries.

Not to understate the importance of efforts to deepen the integration of Ukraine into the single market and to ease cross-border trade irritants, but much of this can be achieved through regular bureaucratic exchanges.

Everywhere there is the accession of Ukraine to the European Union, which will also be presented during other discussions today.

Ahead of the visit, the European capital privately warned Brussels that Ukraine’s expectations of EU integration – particularly the idea that accession could happen in 2026 – are fading.

But when EU officials see the explicit accession schedule talks as unhelpful, that does not mean they come determined to dampen Ukrainian hopes of ever joining at all.

Far from it. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could hardly be more enthusiastic about the topic.

“Europe is with you until the day when the Ukrainian flag will be raised in that place: in Brussels, in front of Berlaymont, in the heart of the European Union,” he said, referring to the commission. headquarters in the Belgian capital.

Back home, away from the sand pockets and tiredness, the reality is that as a group of existing member states, many see Ukrainian membership as a very distant prospect.

For some, it is more realistic to pursue a gradual project to increase integration, rather than raising hopes for full accession.

But according to von der Leyen’s public rhetoric, he does believe it. Expect the push from the top of the commission to be unremitting.

Chart du jour: A long hike

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point yesterday and pledged to do the same next month, in contrast to its British and American counterparts who this week signaled that the tightening cycle was nearing its peak.

Like you

If you are expecting a change in Cypriot politics from this Sunday’s presidential election, Eleni Varvitsioti have news for you.

The top three candidates are not strangers. They all have close ties to the current right-wing president, Nicos Anastasiades, who has been in charge since 2013 and managed to take the country out of the eurozone financial crisis and revive the island’s banking system.

Context: Anastasiades’ tenure was marred by a corruption scandal in which Cyprus issued passports to thousands of wealthy foreigners, including criminals, before the program was halted. There was no clear winner in Sunday’s first round, with a runoff scheduled for February 12.

The main candidate in the polls, Nikos Christodoulides, experienced a meteoric rise in his career, starting as a government spokesman – the EU bubble may remember the briefing during the presidency of the Cyprus council – before becoming foreign minister from 2018 to 2022 under Anastasiades.

Christodoulides decided to run as an independent candidate, a blow to the center-right DYSI party, whose voters are currently split between him and its leader, Averof Neofytou, who is currently second in the polls.

The third candidate is Andreas Mavroyiannis, an experienced diplomat backed by the left-wing Akel party, who is best known as the chief negotiator in the island’s reunification talks since 2013.

So no one is looking forward to a fresh start, least of all the incumbents. As Anastasiades had heard at social gatherings, whoever was elected would be “my man . . . One would be my foreign minister, one would be my party leader, and the third would be my negotiator.”

What to watch today

1. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hosting Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Berlin for talks this evening. A press conference follows.

2. The prime ministers of the three Baltic states met in Tallinn, starting at 10 o’clock.

3. The president of the European parliament Roberta Metsola visited the president of Ireland Michael Higgins.

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