TURKEY PERSPECTIVE

Istanbul, May 21, 2026. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's proposal to grant Ukraine an 'associated member' status in the European Union without voting rights has sparked interest in Turkey that goes beyond following European affairs. Daily Sabah, a leading English-language daily, dedicated an in-depth article to this initiative, describing an unprecedented mechanism: Kiev would attend EU summits, have a representative at the European Commission, and non-voting members in the European Parliament, while potentially benefiting from certain EU budget lines.

In the letter addressed by Merz to Presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, which AFP was able to consult, the Chancellor himself acknowledges the obstacles: 'It is evident that we will not be able to complete the accession process quickly, given the numerous obstacles and complexities of the ratification processes.' This formulation resonates particularly in Istanbul, whose official candidacy dates back to 1987 and whose accession negotiations have been stalled since 2018, blocked by oppositions within several member states.

The Turkish daily highlights that the Ukrainian dynamic has recently been facilitated by the electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán in favor of Peter Magyar in Hungary, the latter being considered less inclined to systematically block the Ukrainian dossier. Daily Sabah notes that Merz insists: it is not a simple 'membership light,' and the Chancellor calls for the immediate opening of 'all clusters of negotiation.' Ukraine, which perceives EU membership as essential to its reconstruction and security – especially since Washington has closed the door to its integration into NATO – fears being 'stuck in an intermediate situation,' according to the article's terms.

Turkish coverage remains factual and detached, without explicit editorial commentary on the comparison with the Turkish dossier. Yet, the parallel is imposed on any informed reader of the regional context. Turkey has been an associate member of the EU since 1963 via the Ankara Agreement – a status well before the EU's current form – and has been an official candidate since 1999. The accelerated creation of a new tailored mechanism for Ukraine, justified by the urgency of the conflict with Russia, cannot help but fuel internal debates on the differentiated treatment of candidacies based on conjunctural geopolitical criteria rather than uniform technical criteria.