DISINFO: Ukraine's chances of joining the EU are miserable, economy is destroyed, industry in ruins, millions have left the country
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: tsargrad.tv (archived)*
  • Date of publication: February 11, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 184
  • Countries / regions discussed: Ukraine
Tags:
Eastern Europe European Union EU/NATO enlargement Abandoned Ukraine

DISINFO: Ukraine's chances of joining the EU are miserable, economy is destroyed, industry in ruins, millions have left the country

SUMMARY

Ukraine’s chances of joining the EU are miserable. Ukrainians are pleased to be among “good company”, but nobody wants to take them into such a company.

If you ask the Ukrainian authorities what they really did to join the European Union, the answer will be very sad. The economy of Ukraine is destroyed, industry is in ruins and the standard of living has fallen to such an extent that millions of Ukrainians have become migrants.

RESPONSE

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the European Union is tired of Ukraine and no longer wants to help it and that there is no chance of Ukraine joining the EU. It is also a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying the economic situation of Ukraine as disastrous.

European integration is defined by the Ukrainian authorities as a priority. On 11 February 2020, Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksiy Honcharuk, met with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Olivér Várhelyi, and discussed priorities for Ukraine-EU bilateral cooperation for 2020.

At the moment, the association agreement is the main tool for bringing Ukraine and the EU closer together. It promotes deeper political ties, stronger economic links and respect for common values. The deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA) is the economic part of the agreement. It offers a framework for modernising Ukraine's economy and trade relations.

A joint press release by the EU-Ukraine Association Council on 28 January 2020 "reaffirmed the continued commitment of the parties to strengthening the political association and economic integration of Ukraine with the European Union on the basis of the Association Agreement and its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and to the common values enshrined in it."

Regarding the claim about Ukraine's economy being disastrous, according to the World Bank, the GDP of Ukraine grew by 3.5% in the first half of 2019, compared to 3.3% in 2018. The solid growth was driven by a strong agricultural harvest, as well as sectors dependent on domestic demand, including services (domestic trade, transport, and the financial sector) and construction. In 2019, the GDP of Ukraine was US$130.832 billion. Thirty years ago it was $82.709 billion - an increase of over 50 percent.

You can find similar cases of the Kremlin trying to undermine Ukraine's economy here.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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