In December 2024, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine. Such an important decision for Ukraine was made in the context of the brutal aggression and war that the Putin regime in Russia has waged against the country. But this decision was also made in an unprecedentedly fast manner: it required only two years from the time of submitting the application to obtaining candidate status and opening negotiations, with the latter expected to begin in 2025. The Ukrainian government has committed itself to the most ambitious and profound reforms yet, intended to transform the former Soviet republic into a country governed by common legislation with the EU, meeting the highest democratic standards, and ensuring that dignity and human rights are paramount.
This ambitious goal seems incredible in the context of the largest ongoing war in Europe. As of today, Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, annexed in 2014. Donbas, the largest industrial region in the east of the country with large metallurgy, machine building, energy sector, ports, shipyards, and other enterprises, has been almost completely destroyed. Russia occupied a territories rich in natural resources and strategic coal reserves. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands wounded, and millions forced to flee their homes or find themselves under occupation. Yet this brutal war is still ongoing.
On its way to the EU, Ukraine will also have to overcome significant internal challenges that havebeen accumulating for decades. Such challenges include entrenched corruption, oligarchy, significant human rights violations, an unstable democracy, and a weak and ineffective legal system.
Although this review does not cover all aspects of the political, economic or social situation in Ukraine and the necessary reforms, it provides an opportunity to see key problems in individual areas that require urgent solutions on the path to European integration. Most of the review focuses on socio-economic issues that are often overlooked in the context of debates about the quality of democratic institutions, overcoming corruption or building an effective legal system. This review focuses on the following topics: general overview of the economy, the energy and agricultural sectors, the problem of external debt, women's employment in wartime, discrediting trade unions, deteriorating working conditions and challenges in the labor market, poverty, the crisis in the social housing market and problems in the healthcare sector.
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