On February 13 a three person delegation from the European Union came to Ukraine. The team included Sweden’s Foreign Minister Anna Lind, Belgium’s Deputy Foreign Minister Luois Michel, and EU supreme representative for general foreign policy Javier Solana, as well as a European Commission member in charge of foreign relations, Chris Patten. Interestingly, the visit by the EU delegation came on the heels of Russian President Putin’s visit to Ukraine.
It was clear from the start that the visiting EU officials had no tricks up their sleeves as Sweden, currently presiding in the EU, has so far been unfailingly favorable to Ukraine. Still, even with Sweden presiding, the EU did issue a quite strictly worded statement indicating their anxiety over the freedom of expression in Ukraine and agonizingly slow investigation of the Heorhy Gongadze killing. Official Kyiv, visibly not too hurt by the statement, described it as rash and biased.
One of the main goals of the trio’s visit was to discuss the work plan of cooperation between the EU and Kyiv, which was recently approved in Brussels for the period of Sweden’s presidency of the EU. Each new country presiding over the EU is to develop its own strategy of cooperation with other countries. As priority avenues for cooperation, the Swedes have proposed “integrating Ukraine in the European Union..., deepening cooperation in migration policy... (and) developing local and regional self-government.”
The document also dwells on Kyiv’s links with the EU within the framework of the Security Program for Europe. It is known that Brussels has been showing increased activity aimed at forming a joint European army. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk has not ruled out Kyiv’s cooperation with such a European army. Brussels will definitely approve of Kuzmuk’s stand, on condition, however, that the European Corps becomes a viable military formation. This kind of cooperation could work in Ukraine’s favor since the military sector and not some far-fetched economic pipe dreams, could provide a viable shortcut for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
We can now only hope that the EU’s most recent plan does not become yet another one on paper only. As Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Zlenko stressed at the beginning of the talks, the visit of the EU team will be yet another step on the way toward deeper cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union. Ukraine, which has accepted its strategic partner’s role, is now eager “to see this role fill with content,” Zlenko said.
Swedish Minister Anna Lind told the press, summing up previous meetings with Ukraine’s political elite, that there is noticeable headway in the situation with the Ukrainian media, although certain aspects of the freedom of expression are still worrisome. Her Ukrainian counterpart, Anatoly Zlenko, meanwhile stressed that Brussels and Kyiv have concurrent views on investigating the Gongadze case, specifically that it must be completed as soon as possible and establish the truth. Considering the results of the talks in Kyiv, the freedom of expression issue that seemed to concern the journalists present more than anything else, had been anything but a top priority during the meetings. Despite Ukraine’s obvious attempts to improve relations with Moscow, European integration remains high on the list of Ukrainian foreign policy priorities, and consequently Kyiv welcomes more effective cooperation with Brussels. The EU delegates announced that, during meetings with the president and prime minister, they congratulated the Ukrainian government on its economic progress. Ms. Lind believes that EU expansion is advantageous for both Ukraine and the European Union. Anatoly Zlenko sounded less enthusiastic about expansion prospects, once again mentioning “certain unwelcome consequences” of such expansion. Chris Patten of the European Commission, responsible for foreign contacts, noted that he could understand the Ukrainian government’s concern here, adding that the EU is prepared to discuss a solution to the problem. Mr. Patten stated that Brussels will support Kyiv in better equipping border checkpoints to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants from Asian to EU countries.
According to The Daily Telegraph, EU High Commissioner for Foreign Policy Javier Solana and EC Commissioner Chris Patten, meeting with President Kuchma, also discussed the use of Ukrainian cargo planes (76 Ils and 40 Ans) by the Eurocorps being created by the EU. The British newspaper believes that the EU is thus trying to keep its quick deployment forces operational without US aid. Prior to meeting with Leonid Kuchma, the EU representatives declared they were “very impressed” by the Ukrainian proposal and would study it at greater length.
Reform in the energy sector was also discussed during the official visit to Kyiv. The loans promised by the European Commission to complete the construction of two nuclear power units in Rivne and Khmelnytsky require considerable changes in the energy sector. Mr. Patten said the trio and Ukrainian representatives touched on possible solutions to the problems in the natural gas sector, adding that Ukraine’s participation in energy transit to Europe was not discussed. From competent sources it is known that Kyiv regards this as a pressing issue, regardless of improvements in relations with Moscow and lessened noise about Russia’s bypass pipeline. Also, Ukraine is trying to find non- Russian energy suppliers in Western Europe interested in transit across Ukraine (Iran is considered an alternative supplier and transit customer). Roman Shpek, Ukraine’s representative to the EU, voiced what seems best to describe the talks with that organization: “We simply have to be more active. We must formulate our own proposal.”
