EU could fall apart before Ukraine joins: Medvedev

"We, the children of the 1970s, all waited for the onset of communism. Alas, it did not happen. The Soviet Union collapsed, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was liquidated," Medvedev, who joined the party in university and left in 1991, wrote on his Telegram page on Sunday, according to Sputnik.

"The situation related to the promised onset of global happiness in the USSR reminds me of the incantations made by the European Commission regarding Ukraine's EU candidacy," the former president, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, added.

"They have been promised. Exactly, promised. And the promise was made only to [Ukraine], and not even Georgia (I would be offended in their place, not even mentioning Turkey)," Medvedev also wrote, recalling Ankara's application to become a member of the European Economic Community - the EU's predecessor, all the way back in 1987.

"They promised, but with conditions. Ukraine is supposed to become better, cleaner, less corrupt, more developed, enlightened, and smarter. [EC chief] Aunt Usrula [von der Leyen] even said that Ukrainians are dying for EU membership," he further pointed out.

"After that, it will be like with the construction of communism. The date hasn't been set after all. But there are many unverifiable, abstract conditions. Their objective verification is impossible. They will be checked for decades, and by new generations of EU leaders. Therefore, the real term is the middle of the century, not earlier," Medvedev wrote.

In the meantime, he suggested, the fate of the USSR could also befall the EU.

According to Sputnik, the European Union's executive arm formally recommended that Ukraine be given candidate status in the bloc on Friday, notwithstanding outstanding concerns about corruption, rule of law, governance, democracy, the outsized influence of the ultra-wealthy in the economy and politics, widespread poverty, nationalism and the current military crisis with Russia.

Ukraine officially applied for EU candidate status in February.

KI/ PR