Russia said on Friday that a decision by European Union leaders to accept Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for membership would have negative consequences and amount to “enslavement” by the union European Union from neighboring countries.
Although it may take years for countries to join the European bloc, the decision to accept them as candidates are emblematic of the EU’s intention to penetrate deep into the former Soviet Union.
Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the move as an attempt to encroach on Russia’s sphere of influence within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) made up of former Soviet states.
“With the decision to grant Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate countries, the European Union has confirmed that it continues to actively exploit the CIS at the geopolitical level, to use it” to contain “Russia,” she said in a statement.
“They don’t think about the negative consequences of such a decision.”
By expanding into Ukraine and Moldova, two former Soviet republics, the EU has sacrificed its democratic ideals at the expense of “unconstrained expansion and the political and economic subjugation of its neighbors”, said Zakharova.
Moscow has said it must send troops to Ukraine, in part to prevent its territory from being used to attack Russia. Western countries and kyiv say Russia’s claims are a baseless excuse for land grabbing.
