At their meeting in Luxembourg, the EU Foreign Ministers have supported Sweden’s and Great Britain’s initiative on new relations with Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, which are supposed to acquire the status of the enlarged European Union’s neighbors. The enlargement process is expected to begin in 2004, with the top ten new EU members including Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia – Ukraine’s western neighbors, and later – Romania. According to The Financial Times, Great Britain’s proposal, contained in Foreign Minister Jack Straw’s letter, was to grant Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova special neighbor status. The meaning and concrete contents of this status will be determined by the European Commission during Denmark’s presidency in the EU (six months starting July 1). Incidentally, Denmark is closing its Embassy in Kyiv. London’s proposals contain, among others, plans for liberalization of trade with the three former Soviet republics, closer cooperation in border protection, justice, internal affairs, security, and defense, but only after they demonstrate progress in economic and political reforms and improve the situation with human rights. The EU’s new borders will face a number of concomitant problems of cross-border crime, smuggling, and illegal migration, said Minister Straw in his letter to Josep Pique, the Foreign Minister of Spain, who currently presides in the European Union. He noted, however, that the EU was directly interested in helping to cope with the challenges faced and posed by these three nations.
On the other hand, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, which are believed to be the best prepared for joining the EU, ask giving Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova certain opportunities, so as to maintain stability in the region, keep in check the flow of immigration and encourage them to reform. In addition, Straw’s letter notes that while reforms in Ukraine and Moldova may be interpreted in different ways, Belarus lags behind them.
In any case, the Luxembourg decision apparently indicates that the European Union is at least beginning to think of what Europe might look like in several years, what kind of relations the EU might have with the countries that will definitely stay out for the near future, and that it is finally giving up its desire to simply isolate itself from them. Now that agreements on readmission and the liberalization of the visa regime are already discussed, the Luxembourg decision could be viewed as a certain signal, so long awaited by Kyiv: now they begin to listen to us and even understand us a little.
COMMENTARY
Oleksandr CHALY, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry State Secretary for European Integration:
“We view the EU Foreign Ministers’ decision in Luxembourg positively. First, it demonstrates the European Commission’s intention to start a new dialogue with Ukraine, to determine a new level of cooperation, new European prospects for Ukraine. This intention has been hailed by EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Javier Solana.
“Secondly, the European Union’s decision is based on its differential approach to Ukraine and its neighbors in EU policies. This will give Ukraine an opportunity to fulfill its European aspirations.”
