Austria — an EU country — said Ukraine should not be able to join the bloc, which could harm its membership efforts

Austria's foreign minister voiced his opposition to Ukraine becoming a full member of the European Union.

At a media summit in the Austrian town of Lech am Arlberg on Saturday, Alexander Schallenberg said that the EU and Ukraine should consider alternative ways to strengthen their ties, rather than having Ukraine become a full member.

Heute reported that he said that a connection to a state like Ukraine does not necessarily have to be through full membership.

The Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that he said there were options for connections with Ukraine without having to join the EU.

Heute reported that officials were currently thinking in ready-made templates and that a new type of alliance could be created.

Heute said that this could mean fully integrating Ukraine with EU states in certain ways, such as in energy, but without Ukraine becoming a full, formal member.

The EU offered a faster path to membership for Ukraine in the wake of the Russia invasion.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it would not be a matter of years but weeks.

He noted that other countries had been trying to join the EU for a long time.

Heute reported that he said that while Europe had the right focus on Ukraine, it should not mean that those other countries should be forgotten.

Serbia applied to join the EU in 2009, but negotiations are still going on.

Austria could have an impact on Ukraine's efforts to join the EU.

All EU member states must agree to begin membership negotiations. The Australian Broadcasting Company noted that Austria could draw out the process during negotiations.

Ukraine was disappointed by the comments.

The Ukrinform news agency quoted a spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign ministry as saying that the country considers the beliefs of Schallenberg to be strategically short-sighted and not in the interests of the united Europe.

The vast majority of the population of the EU founding member states support Ukraine's membership.