I'm sure a lot of people want Ukraine in the EU, but that is an emotional response.
The reason why Ukraine is not in the EU is not because of Russia but because of the EU. EU has criterias to admit members and Ukraine does not meet any of them.
Despite having a pro-western govt. for 8 years, Ukraine is still one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in Europe. Its economy never went through the post-soviet restructuring of other economies in Eastern Europe and most of its businesses cannot compete against EU companies. The only reason they survive now is due to domestic protective measures.
Based on various articles written by economists who have looked into to this, if Ukraine was admitted in the EU right now you would have:
1. 2-3 million Ukrainains who would move to western europe and compete for low paying jobs driving up the local unemployment rate (note: these are pre-war numbers, the numbers now would be a lot higher);
2. Wholesale bankruptcies of many Ukrainian companies who cannot compete with EU companies, which would lead to...
3. EU having to pour Billions of Euros in to Ukraine to prop up the Govt and economy (think of Greece and multiply by a factor of 3x to 5x)....
4. a large chunk of which would be siphoned off into offshore accounts since based on various estimates, govt corruption at all level may account for as much as 30% of GDP.
No to mention the fact that Turkey has been a EU candidate for over 15 years and and is way closer to meeting the EU criterias than Ukraine is.
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