Why is Austria's foreign minister explicitly not supporting Ukraine's full membership in the European Union?

Question

According to this source, Austria's foreign minister said that Ukraine shouldn't be given full EU membership:

While Schallenberg supports stronger relations between Europe and Ukraine, he doesn't support the full membership of Ukraine.

The same information is also reported by the Jerusalem Post:

Ukraine should not be offered European Union membership, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said last week at a European media summit, Pravda reported.

This seems rather strange because:

• even if Ukraine is on a fast track for EU membership, it is mostly symbolic, as it takes year to actually function as an EU member
• it breaks the unity of the message of the EU for clearly supporting Ukraine

What is the point of mentioning Austria's non-support for Ukraine EU member at this moment?

Answer 1

According to news reports, he was thinking of the other membership aspirants in the Balkans who had been ahead of Ukraine in the queue and should not be forgotten even 'with the proper focus on Ukraine' now. He also made the connection between the Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova applications, which sould be treated similarly in his view.

Answer 2

While there seems to be some kind of "Ukraine hype" because of the war many forget that in some points Ukraine is not much better then Russia. One of this points is corruption and this is not my opinion, this what a German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is definitely not a friend of Russia, is saying:

Friedrich Merz: Please no corrupt Ukraine in the EU

Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, there has been increasing debate about joining the EU. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is hesitant.

CDU federal chairman Merz has been rather cautious about Ukraine's possible accession to the EU. In an interview with the broadcaster n-tv, he warned not to let the war overshadow everything on this issue. "We have a veritable war in Ukraine," said Merz. If Ukraine were a member of the EU, the assistance agreement would take effect. The EU would be obliged to deliver arms to the war zone. The agreement stipulates that in the event of a military attack, both states will consult and look for ways to provide assistance.

"The EU accession process is complex for a reason," Merz continued. The rule of law principles that would be applied when examining possible EU accession should also apply to Ukraine. The EU does not want to "see the Ukraine that we had before, namely the one with oligarchs and with great corruption". There is certainly still a lot to do, according to the CDU federal chairman.

Answer 3

The point of mentioning Austria's non-support for Ukraine EU member at this moment is in complete alignment with Austria's position regarding Russian sanctions, see below. The point is in expressing enough opposition to Ukraine and enough support of Russia in order to preserve the current level of imports of gas and oil from Russia to Austria, which depends on these imports. The statement is also in line with Austria complying with Russian demands of payment for the gas in rubles.

REFERENCES:

LUXEMBOURG — Austria’s finance minister Monday ruled out any EU sanctions that target oil and gas coming from Russia.

“We are very much dependent on the Russian gas, and I think all sanctions that hit us more than the Russians wouldn’t be good for us,” Magnus Brunner told reporters ahead of a Eurogroup gathering of eurozone peers in the Grand Duchy. “That’s why we’re against the sanctions in the oil and gas.” [...]

The EU has already smacked Moscow with four rounds of sanctions, and talks are underway to introduce a fifth package amid reports of Russian soldiers executing civilians in Ukrainian towns they hold.

Brunner described the reports as “extremely horrible” but said “you have to stay cool” when it comes to sanctions. But Vienna is happy to continue targeting Russian individuals, he said.

“If the sanctions hit yourself more than the other one, I don’t think that’s the right way to go,” Brunner said.

Bjarke Smith-Meyer: Austria rejects sanctions against Russian oil, gas. April 4, 2022: https://www.politico.eu/article/austria-rejects-sanctions-against-russian-oil-gas/

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VIENNA, April 27. /TASS/. The Austrian side, represented by Austrian oil and gas company OMV, accepted Russia's conditions for paying for Russian gas supplies in rubles by opening an account with a Russian bank, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Wednesday.

"We, that is, OMV, accepted the terms of payment, as did the German government. The terms were found to be in line with the terms of the sanctions. This was important for us," he said at a press conference.

The Chancellor drew attention to the fact that Poland and Bulgaria refused to pay for Russian gas under the rubles mechanism, and therefore faced problems with the supply of this type of fuel from Russia.

TASS, April 27, 2022. Austria accepts terms of payment for Russian gas in rubles — Chancellor: https://tass.com/economy/1443877

Answer 4

The reason is most likely the same as that expressed by the Danish Foreign Ministry, who called on the European Union not to “lower the bar” for the sake of Ukraine.

Denmark supports EU membership for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the western Balkans but "geopolitical circumstances" did not justify skating over governance reforms, Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told the Financial Times on Thursday.

The EU risks "importing instability" if it relaxes its standards on democracy and corruption to hasten the accession of Ukraine and other candidate countries, Rasmussen said in an interview with the newspaper.

To join the EU, a country has to align its laws with many EU standards ranging from climate to labour. That process usually takes many years.