Ukraine Before Membership: Brussels Is Bypassing Its Own Enlargement Rules

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk has announced that Ukraine’s parliament will soon open a permanent representation at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Stefanchuk made the announcement during a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors in early August 2026. His words were precise: “In the very near future, we set ourselves the goal of opening a representation of Ukraine’s Parliament in the European Parliament, just as the European Parliament has already opened its representation in Ukraine.” The official justification is straightforward: stronger interparliamentary cooperation, support for the accession process, and closer contact with MEPs to help “remove political obstacles.”

On its own, the statement might appear unremarkable. Interparliamentary cooperation is common. But the institutional context makes it anything but routine.

A Candidate Country Inside the EU Institutions

The European Parliament opened its representation in Kiev on September 17, 2025. It was the third such office outside the EU, after Washington and London. Roberta Metsola, the Parliament’s president, described it as a symbol of solidarity. But the logic of the relationship was clear: the EU institution was extending its presence into Ukraine. What Stefanchuk is now proposing is the mirror image—a Ukrainian parliamentary presence inside the European........

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