Ukraine has requested fast-track entry to the EU (Picture: Getty)
All eyes are on the European Union (EU) as Ukraine awaits to be granted membership as it continues fighting off Russian invaders.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted the application for Ukraine to join the union on February 28, requesting ‘immediate accession via a new special procedure’.
But which countries are currently members of the bloc?
Here is all you need to know.
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Which countries are part of the EU?
The EU is currently made up of 27 members.
There are currently 27 countries in the EU (Picture: Getty)
The current members are as follows:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
The UK left the bloc on December 31, 2020, following the outcome of the 2016 referendum – known as Brexit – in which 52% of the country voted to leave.
Which countries want to join the EU?
As mentioned previously, Ukraine has requested fast-track membership to the bloc.
Ukraine has long wanted to be part of the bloc – signing a 2017 Association Agreement with the union to facilitate trade, ‘political dialogue’ and to ‘promote, preserve and strengthen peace’, but its membership would solidify and formalise the support of its 27 members.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that Ukraine is wanted in the EU – but the process of officially joining usually takes years.
Other countries undergoing the lengthy process to join are Georgia, Turkey, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
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