Let's unpack the various claims made in this article to see whether or not they stand up. First of all, corruption. Oh my goodness yes, I know from personal experience that Ukraine suffered from a lot of corruption prior to Putin's invasion earlier this year. But you know what? If corruption precludes EU membership then we have to expel Italy, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and (whisper this quietly) sometimes even France. As for Hungary, Orban has turned it into a dictatorship that is riddled with Orban-serving corruption from top to bottom.

OK, what about the economy? Ukraine's economy has been totally shattered by Putin's vile invasion. But, hey, is anyone old enough to remember Grexit? Is anyone aware that Italy's economy teeters on a debt-laden knife-edge? Or that most EU countries are moving toward running unsustainable deficits (hello again, France!)?

As for slow bureaucracy, let's hear it for France yet again. Or, better yet, for bureaucracy that isn't slow because nothing ever emerges: Italy, Greece, and sometimes Poland if you're on the wrong side of PiS.

So basically by applying the seemingly reasonable yardsticks presented here to claim that the EU isn't ready for Ukraine, we see that we have to eject many existing EU member states. And presumably Germany must be re-divided back into West and East, because these same yardsticks would have precluded German unification after the Berlin Wall was torn down.

Or we could stop being silly and ask whether the realistic possibility of EU membership could dramatically strengthen existing anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine, enable economic revival based on opening up new market opportunities, and in general benefit millions of people whose lives have been shattered by Putin's disgusting actions, being raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered, while flabby complacent self-centered Europeans whine about having to pay a bit more for their energy bills this winter.