Pierre Mirel, former Honorary Director-General for Enlargement at the European Commission, argued that Europe will not have the capacity to defend Ukraine by 2040. Mirel claimed that European countries will not be able to complete these preparations even within 15 years.
Mirel's assessment came after a proposal by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz regarding Ukraine. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper reported in May that Merz had proposed granting Ukraine the status of a joint member of the European Union and extending the mutual defense obligation in the EU treaty to Kyiv.
Speaking to Euractiv, Mirel described the idea of applying the mutual defense clause to Ukraine before full membership as 'unusual'. The former official expressed doubt that a 'coalition of the willing' would be ready to provide such support, and stated that Europe would not be in a position to defend Ukraine even by 2040.
The European Union granted candidate country status to Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022. Brussels has repeatedly acknowledged that this decision was largely symbolic and aimed at supporting Kyiv and Chișinău in their struggle against Moscow.