As Ukraine's EU reforms stumble, new envoy comes to reassure Brussels

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Ukraine's incoming ambassador to the EU, Taras Kachka, arrived in Brussels slightly ahead of his first day on the job to reassure that Ukraine will keep up the pace of reforms, and that its eventual membership in the bloc is in everybody's best interest.

Kachka is due to fully begin work as the ambassador only later in September, but he spoke at the Bruegel think tank's annual conference on Sept. 2 about Ukraine's path to EU accession, and about the pressing need to keep up financial support.

"Intensity is growing," Kachka said. "All governments are thinking seriously about whether we are ready, whether there are sensitive topics," ever since Kyiv began unlocking enlargement clusters, to-do lists of EU reforms, in June 2026.

The opening of the first two clusters, on rule of law and external relations, respectively, took place under Kachka's watch, while he served as a deputy prime minister responsible for EU integration.

As part of a sudden government reshuffle in July, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kachka would switch jobs with then-ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov.

In the previous job, Kachka was seen by Brussels as a key ally in driving forward the reform agenda in Ukraine.

In December 2025, he co-signed a letter with EU enlargement chief Marta Kos outlining the 10 most pressing rule-of-law reforms to be completed by the end of 2026.

Kachka also led the work with the European Commission to agree on the pacing and content of the reform requirements Kyiv would have to achieve in order to receive each installment of the bloc's 90 billion euro ($104 billion) loan, finalized in April.

Reforms 'brave', but delays costly

But those reforms have largely not been implemented, with the Ukrainian parliament blocking rule-of-law reforms in August and financial reforms as recently as Sept. 1.

Those blockages could cost Kyiv up to 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) and 3.7 billion euros ($4.3 billion), respectively.

And now Zelensky is calling on the EU to release some installments of the loan scheduled for 2027 already this year.

"War does not mean that you cancel all these values," Kachka said, before outlining that despite the war, Ukraine continues to have pluralistic media, protests, and some reforms getting through.

He also highlighted that lawmakers had passed anti-corruption laws that led to 40 parliamentarians being convicted or indicted by anti-corruption agencies.

"This is very brave from political animals. Politicians know that if something can be applicable to you, better it start to be applicable when you will cease to be a politician," Kachka quipped.

Even so, the incoming ambassador made it clear he would take the concerns expressed by European partners seriously.

"The voices and questions of member states and different stakeholders are not 'blah, blah, blah,'" Kachka said, when asked by the Kyiv Independent how he would reassure Brussels.

"I do respect all of these things. Why? Because the scale of this mutual undertaking on deterring Russia is so huge that it requires enormous trust between all of us."

"Rule of law, anti-corruption, is really the cornerstone of this trust," Kachka said.

Other allies not keeping their promises

Similarly, Kachka was full of praise for the EU's 90-billion-euro loan.

"The architecture of this loan, common borrowing of the EU, supported by 27 member states for the war needs of a third state, Ukraine, is a really revolutionary thing. We really cherish how the EU supports us," Kachka said.

The reason for Zelensky's call to frontload payments, Kachka explained, is the "very general promise from other partners who support us to participate in this kind of financing," which remains unfulfilled.

Instead of contributing on top of the 90 billion-euro sum, the U.K. decided to participate in financing the loan, giving the appearance of substantial help without increasing the amount of money going to Kyiv.

Kachka said he remains optimistic that countries such as the U.K., Canada, and Japan will step up, but explained that without help from others, "it would be natural to ask the EU for some kind of frontloading."

If installments of the 90 billion-euro loan are to be frontloaded, the strings attached —  specific reforms passed by specific dates — risk being rendered redundant by the rapid disbursement of financial support.

That concern could also explain why Zelensky said on Sept. 1 that the government would like to push through 44 different reforms by Nov. 1.

Such a deadline would mean EU countries could verify progress rather than trusting the word of Zelensky or Kachka that reforms would take place at some later date.

With rule of law, "we understand... that we need to continue to invest in it despite all the challenges," Kachka said.