Never before has Ukraine been so close to the signing of the Association and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement. Relevant statements are made both in Brussels and in many European capitals, as well as by the leadership of Poland, the country currently presiding over the EU. In Warsaw, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski mentioned at the meeting with journalists re-presenting Eastern Partnership countries: “Since we have basically agreed the text of the FTA Agreement with Ukraine, the Eastern Partnership summit, which is opening tomorrow afternoon [on September 29. – Ed.] in Poland’s capital, will confirm it. And we hope that during Poland’s presidency we will be able to sign this agreement with Kyiv.” Yet it is not all that simple – but we will talk about it later.
Sikorski also related that Poland and Sweden, the initiators of the Eastern Partnership, were able to impress the importance of this initiative on all the EU states. He added that if it didn’t exist, all EU attention would be focused on the South.
The second Eastern Partnership summit, in which even more leaders of the EU nations are to take part, “will summarize what we have done, and we are also going to outline our future plans,” said the Polish minister.
Donald Tusk will act as host at the summit which is to be chaired by Herman Van Rompuy, which means that the meeting will be held at the summit level within the framework of the European Council session. Catherine Ashton, EU high representative for foreign affairs, and Stefan Fuele, European Commissioner for enlargement, will also be present there, which is important for the Eastern Partnership nations.
Sikorski admitted that the contents of the declaration to be passed on Friday on the closing of the summit did not leave everyone pleased. Ukraine is known to have been aspiring to include a clause on its perspective membership in the EU into the preamble of the Agreement and, consequently, into the declaration. Other countries wanted to include into the declaration a clause stating that President Aliaksandr Lukashenka must release all political prisoners. However, one of Belarusian oppositionists Aliaksandr Lebiadko told The Day that Ukraine had opposed this proposal.
Nevertheless, the declaration will contain acknowledgement of European aspirations of those European nations and partners which seek membership or set it as their goal, says Sikorski.
He also admitted that some partners were not happy with such wording. “I would like to remind that when Poland sought rapprochement with the EU, it did not have even such a declaration. We were building our policy proceeding from our unilateral declaration,” stressed Sikorski.
According to him, the European Union admits that the creating of visa-free space is not going to be a long-term goal. Instead, it will be implemented depending on the desire of the nations involved, supposing they meet the relevant criteria. This is an advantage for Ukraine, but it will certainly depend on its effort for meeting the abovementioned criteria for visa-free regime.
Sikorski said also that the declaration would emphasize the importance of cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries in certain sectors, in particular, energy, transport, agriculture, and security. Besides, he added that the citizens of the Eastern Partnership would get an opportunity to participate in the programs held by the EU agencies and institutions for the EU citizens. For instance, this could be Erasmus project for students and scholars.
At the same time Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland’s Secretary of State for European affairs, expressed a hope that the summit will be welcomed by the EU and that it will be the first actual step towards economic cooperation. According to Dowgielewicz, the key conditions of the Agreement on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area will incorporate not only commerce, but also the adaptation of standards now effective in the EU. “In fact, this is the first step towards a real economic integration, given that the word of political integration still has a funny ring to it for some EU nations,” emphasized he.
Dowgielewicz believes that the prepared agreement with Ukraine is a revolutionary breakthrough in this context. He also informed that the European Commission had suggested increasing of the budget for the Eastern Partnership by an additional 150 million euros. There are also offers concerning loans for small and medium businesses and the increase of investments for the East Partnership countries.
In his turn, Sikorski informed that the Eastern Partnership public administration academy would be created in Warsaw. “Just like we learned to reform our public administration when going to join the EU, so you will also have to train your own civil servants, capable to cooperate with the EU and implement reforms,” he explained.
Sikorski also said that the declaration would confirm the “more for more” principle. In other words, the countries which seek more and achieve more will have more opportunities for cooperation. Correspondingly, the “less for less” principle will be implemented for the countries which show signs of dictatorship, have political prisoners, or where elections are rigged.
In connection with Yulia Tymoshenko’s arrest and the trial of the former ex-prime minister and oppositionists who used to serve as members of her government, numerous European politicians and officials are known to have voiced warnings concerning the Ukrainian regime’s practices in observing human rights and democratic liberties. Some politicians even imply a connection between the signing of the agreements on association and free trade area with the release of Tymoshenko and the ending of persecutions against political opposition.
When asked what else the EU, Poland, and Ukraine have to do in order to finalize the talks on the abovementioned agreements and to initiate them at the EU-Ukraine December summit, and if the continued detention of Tymoshenko or her conviction by the moment of signing will not hamper this process, Sikorski answered the following: “To the best of my knowledge, all issues concerning the signing of the FTA agreement are now settled and the parties have reached mutual understanding. This means that the status like that of Norway or Switzerland, or an opportunity to become an economically largest market in the world of 500 million consumers, is at hand for Ukraine.
“But what we are going to sign is not just a trade agreement. The association agreement includes shared values, institutions, and democratic procedures. At the Yalta European Strategy summit I spoke with Ukraine’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and told them that the political climate in Ukraine is a trump card which gives the country a vantage point, and this has to be taken into consideration. Another reason is, that the Agreement is subject to ratification. The European Parliament and each and every EU member country are bound to keep a close watch on the implementation of the declaration of shared values. And for them, the preservation of unbiased judiciary and the ensuring of political rights for the opposition are key issues,” noted Sikorski.
It is clear that Ukraine’s leadership must heed to such warnings and do their best to avoid even a slightest hint at the political persecution of the opposition. On the other hand, puppet opposition will only do harm, since there must be someone to point to the government’s mistakes and show better ways to solve the challenges the nation faces. Kyiv still has time to make inferences and correct mistakes. And this should perhaps be done before the start of President Yanukovych’s visit to Brussels on October 20, so there is time for ultimate amendments to the text of the Agreement before December 15 – because Ukraine will hardly ever again have more favorable conditions for signing the agreements to bring it closer to Europe than now, while Poland still presides over the EU.
