“Don’t find excuses, find opportunities” — Ukraine’s EU accession through the eyes of local diplomats

May 9 is Europe Day, which is also known as European Integration Day. On this day, the European Union’s member states and candidate countries celebrate shared values and cultural spaces. Ukraine began its official EU membership aspirations in June 2024. The Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV) supports Ukraine’s EU journey by training its diplomats and future negotiators. 

Ukrainian Oleksandra Yevtushok studied for eight months at the Estonian School of Diplomacy (EDS) in Tallinn as an ESTDEV scholarship holder. “I have always been interested in international life, and funnily enough, I was inspired by our Deputy Prime Minister when I read his CV. I saw that he had studied at the Estonian School of Diplomacy. After that, I googled the school, found the programme, and decided to apply,” said Yevtushok. 

According to Yevtushok, participating in an international relations programme was not an easy decision to make: “Moving to another country for eight months can be difficult. I was working at the Ministry of Defence at the time, and I did not have the opportunity to work remotely, so I was fired.” 

But Yevtushok did not give up. She came to Estonia, completed the course, and then found a new job dealing with communications for international delegations visiting Ukraine. 

“As my first boss said, don't find excuses, find opportunities. I think all Ukrainians should follow this principle,” said Yevtushok. 

Oleksandra Yevtushok.

The Ukrainian way is the European way 

Estonia and Ukraine have been cooperating in training diplomats and international relations experts since 2009. 

The director of EDS, Ekke Nõmm, said that Ukraine was on a different foreign policy course back then, and its diplomatic academy had “different” goals. When the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to reorganise it and turn it into an institution providing practical training for Ukrainian diplomats and officials, Estonia was ready to help. EDS led the new training programme. 

“Four years ago, in cooperation with the Swedish Institute of Public Administration, we started preparing curricula for Ukraine related to the European Union. We had three main tasks: to strengthen the European Union competence of Ukrainian officials, to strengthen the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine as an organisation, and to continue training diplomats," said Ekke Nõmm. 

This cooperation led to the joint initiative between Estonia, Sweden, and Ukraine called “Ukraine’s European Path.” Ukraine became an EU candidate country in June 2022, and this initiative prepares diplomats for extensive negotiations with the EU. 

The initiative aims to train Ukrainian civil servants, providing practical knowledge on European integration, developing cross-border cooperation, digitalising public services, information security, and combating cyber threats arising from hybrid warfare. 

The extensive training programme was put together by ESTDEV, EDS and the Swedish Institute (SI) in cooperation with a local partner, the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy (DAU).  

Eva-Maria Liimets, head of Democracy and Rule of Law at ESTDEV, confirmed that today's actions will have important results in the near future. “The principle behind this two-year cooperation project is simple. By helping the people of Ukraine today, we help ensure peace and stability in Europe tomorrow. In cooperation with Sweden, we focused on improving public sector employees' knowledge of the European Union and brought new skills directly to where they are needed most," said Liimets. 

Preparing for EU negotiations 

Joining the EU is a challenge for a candidate country and has been a historically long process. The fastest countries to complete EU negotiations were Austria, Finland and Sweden, which became members in 1995 after a two-year process. It took Estonia six years. 

“With the help of the training programme ‘Ukraine’s European Path’, Ukrainian civil servants will hopefully be able to shorten the time needed for negotiations by learning from the experience of Estonian experts who have practical experience in preparing and conducting accession negotiations," said Nõmm. 

According to Kurt Bratteby, head of the Swedish Institute, the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union is very detailed. However, through networking, diplomats can have a good starting position. “The project’s objectives have been to improve the professional know-how and soft skills of Ukrainian civil servants at both regional and central government levels and to bring together EU diplomats from the Eastern Partnership and neighbouring countries to network and share experiences on the EU integration process,” said Bratteby. 

Ukraine’s perspective on EU accession negotiations 

According to Hennadii Nadolenko, director of DAU, the programme’s most significant benefit is the practical approach in English, as language skills have been one of the biggest stumbling blocks for many Ukrainian officials. 

“We are very satisfied with the programme’s implementation. It has significantly increased the DAU’s ability to provide modern and needs-based English-language training, making Ukrainian diplomats and officials more resilient and better prepared for ongoing challenges, including Russian aggression,” said Nadolenko. “The programme has not only strengthened individual capabilities but also contributed to Ukraine’s broader strategic resilience.” 

The DAU director also emphasised that the advantage of this programme compared to others was precisely the sharing of practical skills by very high-level lecturers and practitioners. 

"The involvement of high-level lecturers and trainers significantly enriches the learning experience. This allows participants to acquire modern knowledge and develop practical skills necessary for effectively performing various tasks," said Nadolenko. 

The programme initially called for in-person workshops in Kyiv. However, the war caused the training sessions to move online, which had the unintended benefit of broadening the participant pool of both trainers and trainees. 

“We have managed to train more officials and diplomats than we initially envisaged in the project application. Due to the war, it was not possible to meet physically, but we were able to access a much larger audience via Zoom. Diplomats from Ukrainian embassies from different countries were also able to join via Zoom, which was very positive. This would not have been possible with classroom training in Kyiv,” said Nõmm. 

Liimets said that Ukraine is successfully moving forward with the implementation of the reforms necessary for joining the EU, despite the difficulties caused by the war of Russian aggression. 

"Ukraine has chosen the European path, which requires complex societal reforms and skilful negotiations with European institutions. This is a long process that requires officials who understand the affairs of the European Union and experienced diplomats. It is appropriate for Estonia to share its lessons here, which can accelerate and facilitate Ukraine’s path to joining the EU,” Liimets said.