Loss of buffer zones heightens risks: China Daily editorial

The European Council decided to grant candidate status for European Union membership to Ukraine and Moldova on Thursday, and requested the European Commission to report to it on the two countries' implementation of the relevant conditions laid down for their full membership.

This means both Ukraine and Moldova will formally join the EU once they meet the EU's stipulated conditions. That it took the two countries only four months to come as close to the bloc as Turkey — which spent 12 years waiting for its EU candidate membership granted in 1999 after launching its application in 1987 — speaks volumes about how the EU's perspective has changed because of the Ukraine conflict.

However, despite the palpable optimism of both countries, there is still a long way to go for them to join the bloc. And it remains to be seen whether the effects of doing so are in line with the collective interests of the region, as by granting them membership the EU is technically turning a buffer zone between it and Russia into part of it.

Both Ukraine and Moldova are at the forefront of the line of balance between Europe's great powers, and EU membership in the future will not change that.

Since independence in the early 1990s, Ukraine has been torn between the EU and Russia. This wavering has not only exacerbated domestic unrest and hindered its own development, but also made the country lose its direction sometimes.

Moldova was battered by separatist forces early in its independence. The existence of the "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic" has kept Moldova on high alert to tread carefully between the EU and Russia.

Ukraine and Moldova have long been attracted by the EU's strong economy and high quality of life. But this attraction is not enough to push either country decisively toward the West.

It is the recent rising of the geopolitical tensions in Europe that has prompted them to sway to the West, and also for the EU to put them on the fast track to membership. The question is what about the other countries on the EU waiting list. Aside from Turkey, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are also seeking membership.

It shows that the former buffer zones and gray zones that existed in Europe are gradually disappearing. This calls for great vigilance from all sides, as it will make it more difficult to form a lasting and sustainable security framework in Europe.