How was Russia able to join the European Union?

Question

....

Answer 1

Umm Russia is NOT part of the European union.

Answer 2

... and which year was it able to join the EU then?

As far as all the sites, newspapers & my general knowledge prevails, Russia is not and never was part of the EU (nor is it liable to be in the future either).....

If you mean part of Europe (as in the continent) then that is a different story

See here for a list of the EU members (and map) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu#Member_s...

and here for Europe (read the subnote for Russia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe#Poli...

Answer 3

Russia is not in the European Union and there are no talks of it joining it. Neither Russia nor the European Union want Russia to join the EU, so it is highly unlikely to happen any time soon.

If you are confusing the European Union with Europe, then those two are not the same. Europe is a continent and geographically speaking, a part of Russia is in Europe and always has been. The European Union is a political and economic community of 27 European member states. Not all countries in Europe are in the European Union.

Some American media tends to refer to the European Union as "Europe", but that is inaccurate and can cause confusion.