The claims about Ukraine’s «inflated ratings» are untrue. The EU publicly records and transparently publishes assessments of reforms, where the country’s leadership and real progress are noted along with strict requirements for further progress. The assessments were made based on the carried out reforms and their effectiveness — this is confirmed not only by Politico, but also by official reports and statements by European Commission representatives.
Russian media and a number of Telegram channels, citing an article in the American media outlet Politico, write that Ukraine’s ratings for EU accession are allegedly being inflated. Ukraine, which is «in a state of conflict and has serious problems with corruption, receives higher scores than Serbia with its stable economy».
Russian propagandists have once again misrepresented an article by a foreign media. The cited story in Politico called Grading the EU hopefuls simply lists the prospects of countries joining the union. The author of the article also gave his assessment of the progress of candidate countries and potential candidates on key criteria.
«Montenegro gets the equivalent of an A, with two officials telling Playbook its report will be “extremely positive.” Albania gets an A-, Moldova a B+, Ukraine a solid B», Politico wrote.
The only impactful and official document is the European Commission’s annual Enlargement Report. This document assesses in detail the progress of each country in relation to the 35 chapters of the negotiating dossier and serves as the basis for decisions by EU member states. According to the official report of the European Commission on EU Enlargement 2025, Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine have demonstrated the greatest progress in reforms over the past year. These countries are noted as leaders in the process.
The EU insists on high quality reforms, especially in the areas of the rule of law, democratic institutions and fundamental freedoms. «There will be no concessions or simplifications, the accession process remains fair, tough and merit-based», the EU report emphasizes. Ukraine was recognized for «notable steps in reforms», but the report contains a separate call to «intensify efforts» to meet all criteria. It is also noted that full integration requires not only assessments, but also effective changes in fundamental areas. All assessments are supported by expert analysis, the work of the European Commission delegations on the ground, and regular technical missions.
The Politico article made the same assessments as the European Commission experts based on actual reforms and their effectiveness.
StopFake previously refuted the claim that the European Commission had allegedly confirmed that Ukraine would not join the EU.
