Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "The EU isn't Ready to let Ukraine in... here's why" video.

  1. I think Ukraine will join the EU at some point but there are changes that are needed on both sides, for one, Ukraine can't join till the war is resolved, after that, there are a lot of political and economic reforms in Ukraine that are needed, something that is likely going to be easier to achieve after the war because it will be bold of any opposition to block many of these changes with everything that's gone on this year and they could easierlly be labled as being pro Russia, so a lot of the ones holding things back will likely melt away in the background. Then we have the EU side, the EU shouldn't let any new countries in until some major reforms are done to the veto rules and majority voting, adding more countries in without reforms in those areas is just asking for trouble as we see with Hungary and Poland, which is ironic because both those countries want the EU to expand and yet they are the ones giving other EU countries pause on expanding. As for the size of Ukraine and it's population, I don't think that is a problem, the EU expanded with 10 countries over 2 decades ago when the EU union was smaller, they can managed with Ukraine and a few other countries, especially when you consider that Ukraine won't join for at least 10 years, which by then, the eastern EU countries will close the gap on the west so they are less of a burden on the others, basically, as more of the eastern members become modern, the more resources there are going to be to help other countries that need it, so more of the burden will spread out over more members. In any case, the real problem isn't economics, it's political and that's on both sides, so how much political will there is on both sides to make it happen, but again, none of this can even start until the war is resolved.
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  2. The UK could but not anytime soon, I suspect the UK will have to wait at least 2 decades before they could even think about joining, the only way I can see it being sooner is if Scotland or Northern Ireland were to leave the UK and rejoin the EU, I suspect they could join much sooner. On the plus side, views on Brexit in the UK seem to be changing, but I doubt the EU or some of its members would let the UK back in until there is a massive shift in the UK from the public, the media and political landscape, change seems to be opening up on the public, but not so much on the media and clearly a none starter with the political party, because of that, there is zero chance of the UK joining any time soon and you only have to look at the Labour Party to see there is a long way to go before the UK gets on the right side of the EU.
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  3. It's hard to say but don't underestimate the change that's going to happen once the war is resolved, Ukraine has had a political and economic earthquake because of the war, that's very likely going to allow reforms to happen much faster once things settle and mainly because of the scare the political side and public side have had with Putin invading Ukraine. In other words, it will be brave of any political parties to try and hold back or black reforms to get closer to EU membership, so once the war is resolved, reforms in Ukraine are likely to speed up a lot because there will be a lot more public support as well as political will, by Putin invading, his scared the country half to death as well as other eastern European countries that opposition to joining the EU is likely going to melt away, that's going to do wonders for reforms and could slice off many years. As for the economic cost of the war, it's hard to say because too much is in the air at the moment, but Ukraine will likely get a lot of help, in or out of the EU union, but it's the political and economic reforms that are needed the most over cash handouts, as that will allow future growth and inroads investments. But let's not forget, we can't judge Ukraine the country before the war because the war has changed everything for the country, so a lot of change is going to happen in Ukraine across the political and economic landscape and that's a massive opening for Ukraine to clean up it's political and economic system, which will go along way in helping the country and helping them join the EU.
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