The relations between the EU and Ukraine may acquire a new dimension and become fixed in a broader new agreement on partnership and cooperation. However, this agreement does not take for granted the prospect of partnership in the European club of 25 countries, with a dozen or so other nations, including our own, lining up for membership. The essence of the new dimension in Kyiv-Brussels relations starting in 2008 was the topic of a Polish/German/Ukrainian roundtable entitled “The EU and Ukraine: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow,” which was organized by the Polish and German embassies for the Ukrainian, Polish, and German mass media.
Ukraine is relying on Germany’s help to develop closer relations with the EU, when Germany takes over the presidency in 2007. This was emphasized by President Yushchenko in a number of interviews given to the German mass media as well as during his negotiations with his German counterpart Horst Kohler in Berlin. The Ukrainian president expressed his hope for Germany’s assistance in reaching an agreement on partnership and cooperation, which will include the creation of a free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU and entail the prospect of our country joining the European community. The current agreement is valid only until 2007.
Will Germany justify Ukraine’s hopes now that the former is busy getting ready to head the EU? Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine Reinhard Schafers threw some light on this issue. He thinks that the topic of European integration — relations between Kyiv and Brussels — is one of the most significant ones for Ukraine. The ambassador said that these relations will be given a new definition, a new basis for the agreement on partnership will be created, and the Ukraine-EU Action Plan for 2008, which will stipulate relations between the EU and Ukraine, will be developed next year. For the period of Germany’s EU presidency the concrete plan is to start negotiating the general framework of relations between Ukraine and the EU.
Brussels has already clarified the mandate for the commission that is going to negotiate the preparation of the new agreement. According to Schafers, the draft of the negotiation mandate consists of 21 pages and is quite a fundamental document. “I am not exaggerating when I say that the result of these negotiations will have an impact on the day-to-day lives of all Ukrainians,” he said. However, the specific prospect of Ukraine joining the EU is not included in the agenda of the negotiations. According to the ambassador, this is connected not with Ukraine but with the fact that because of the failure to adopt the European Constitution, and after the recent wave of expansion, the EU is interested in gaining stability. “That’s why further expansion is out of the question,” the German ambassador said, “And Ukraine must reconcile itself to this.”
At the same time Ambassador Schafers added that the EU can offer Kyiv its assistance in implementing the partnership agreement, which may result in Ukraine obtaining a new status. He thinks that Ukraine will undergo major changes in the course of implementing the new, broader, agreement, and the EU will also have changed by the time of the agreement’s completion.
The key issue is to bring Ukraine closer to the European community along various routes. One of them is establishing a free trade zone, which will enable Ukraine to be a part of the EU. Within the framework of the free trade zone some sector agreements designed to cover cooperation in practically every area, from security and foreign policy to the energy market and judicial matters, will be adopted. According to the ambassador, Germany is ready to contribute to the broader agreement and would like to provide an infrastructure for Ukraine to implement the new agreement. Schafers urged Ukraine to get ready for negotiations, so that the agreement will be prepared and adopted in 2007, and launched in 2008.
Speaking about Ukraine’s possible future status, the ambassador stated that if the new agreement is implemented, our country will achieve a status similar to that of Switzerland, and the EU will be able to raise the issue of its membership. “Sometimes it seems that the issue of EU membership is more important for Ukrainians than its implementation. If we are to realize what we agree on, it will be a lengthy process, not a pleasure cruise,” Schafers said.
The German ambassador doen’t think that the current political situation in Ukraine has a strong impact on relations between Brussels and Kyiv. However, much will depend on the personalities of those appointed to be in charge of the adopted agreement’s implementation.
Mykola Baltazhy, the deputy director of the European Union Department at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the hope that the EU’s temporary difficulties will not impede Ukraine’s intentions to integrate into the EU. According to him, the new EU- Ukraine agreement will be signed for a 10-year term. Speaking about the prospects of Ukrainian membership in the EU, he said that most EU politicians agree with the idea of keeping the doors open.
Baltazhy thinks that the results of a poll conducted in the EU, indicating that every second German is sure that Ukraine and Turkey will join the community within 15 years, is a positive signal. According to another poll, 72 per cent of Europeans think that the EU can accept new countries, but cannot expand rapidly. The foreign ministry spokesman emphasized Ukraine’s readiness to take part in the new European strategy. He said that the EU can rely upon our country as a reliable partner, a country that possesses gas storage and through which energy resources transit.
Naturally, Ukraine has to demonstrate its capabilities so as to remain interesting for the EU as a possible future member of this elite European club. But Kyiv should not forget that democratic values — democracy, rule of law, and human rights — are the cornerstones of the European Union. So it is important for Ukraine to keep being regarded as a country that truly respects these universal values, since they open the way to the EU, which does not shut its borders.
