Despite its complicated internal situation, Ukraine still has reliable allies and true friends in the European Union who wish our country every success on its path towards European integration. It was confirmed yet again on February 21, when presidents of the three neighbors, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, met in the Polish head of state’s Wisla residence before the EU-Ukraine summit. “We want to help Ukraine in achieving the final, important, effect in the form of the signing of an EU-Ukraine association agreement during the November Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius,” declared Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski after meeting with his colleagues Ivan Gasparovic from Slovakia and Viktor Yanukovych from Ukraine.
The Polish president also noted that his discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart had brought some positive signals. First, he explained, the fact of President Yanukovych’s participation in the Brussels summit is such a signal in itself, and secondly, he learned that Yanukovych would be able to present a package including previous achievements as well as planned steps linked with a deep reform in the Ukrainian system in accordance with the future
association agreement and the need to implement the EU proposals that the bloc formulated and Ukraine agreed to.
Komorowski also expressed his optimism regarding a series of gestures and decisions which President Yanukovych had envisaged for rebuilding Ukraine’s image in EU countries, some of them concerning Yulia Tymoshenko and Yurii Lutsenko.
In a press statement after the trilateral talks, Yanukovych said that a compromise should be found soon on the issue of the convicted former prime minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko and former interior minister Yurii Lutsenko. “Concerning the thorny question of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko, I would like to reiterate once again that we are well aware that this issue should be addressed by legal means,” he was quoted as saying by Interfax Ukraine news agency. The Ukrainian president added that Ukraine would seek a model of cooperation with the Customs Union within the framework of the nation’s other international obligations, especially those linked to its membership in the World Trade Organization, never breaking them.
Yanukovych met Komorowski for a tete-a-tete talks in the latter’s Wisla residence on February 20, too. Details of the meeting were not disclosed. However, the Polish president’s spokesperson Joanna Trzaska-Wieczorek let know that the presidents talked for about half an hour during dinner, and the conversation touched all previously announced subjects.
Concluding the abovementioned press conference, the Polish president noted: “We are fully aware of difficulties, but we also have a common determination to overcome them. We wish Ukraine success and this will be a common success on the path towards integration with the Western world.” It would be great to see Western politicians giving more such statements and understanding Ukrainian realities, then our country’s policy of joining the European community would be implemented far faster.
As far as tangible results of the summit go, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Leonid Kozhara told the press that Ukraine hoped to sign four documents in Brussels. They include the summit’s joint declaration and a credit agreement granting Ukraine macro-financial assistance from the EU funds, over 600 million euros in total. The Ukrainian side also expects to sign a Ukraine-EU memorandum on beginning a dialogue between Ukraine and the EU concerning business environment, as well as the seventh joint report on the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of energy between the EU and Ukraine.
COMMENTARY
Grigori MESEZHNIKOV, president of the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava:
“Bringing Ukraine into the European integration processes is a more productive tactic than delivering ultimatums. Should they be able to sign the association agreement, it will be a big step forward in the EU-Ukraine relations. Of course, the EU needs a clear position on democratic values and Ukraine’s duty to respect them. The EU should not backtrack on this count, but it should engage Ukraine at the same time, and never isolate it, for isolation would promote more problematic trends in the nation’s development.”
