Political EU Membership as a Bridge Out of the Geostrategic Grey Zone

Ukraine is not a classic EU enlargement case. It is already a security, innovation, and resources partner of the EU, and geopolitical urgency calls for a reliable European anchor. At the same time, full membership must safeguard the rule of law, internal market readiness, and the EU’s capacity to act. This policy paper argues for ‘political membership’ as a way forward: a binding preliminary stage to full membership that brings together security, reconstruction, investment, reforms, and institutional integration while remaining clearly geared towards accession. For Berlin, this means working with Kyiv and EU partners to develop a path for implementing such ‘political membership’ in 2027. In parallel, key negotiation clusters for Ukraine should be advanced, and reforms should be accompanied more effectively through a Track 1.5 dialogue, with a view to making full membership attainable by 2035