EU pushes for stronger ties with Kiev
PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Leaders of the European Union and
Ukraine said on Tuesday they expected to conclude a pact next
year on deepening ties but the 27-nation bloc stopped short of
offering Kiev the firm membership pledge it had hoped for.
Despite concern about Russian moves to roll back Western
influence after intervening in Georgia, many EU states have been
unwilling to offer such a pledge because of waning public
support for EU expansion, Kiev's poor record on reform and a
desire to avoid further straining ties with Moscow.
A declaration agreed between EU leaders and Ukrainain
President Viktor Yushchenko acknowledged Kiev's EU aspirations
and status as a European country and resolved to launch talks on
visa-free arrangements for Ukrainian citizens.
The leaders also agreed that a broad pact under negotiation
would be called an "association agreement" -- wording that can
imply the possibility of future EU membership.
There was no explicit offer of future membership that
Ukraine has been seeking.
But French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the rotating
EU presidency, told a news conference: "It is the first time
that the European Union has made such a clear statement about
Ukraine's European calling...This association agreement does not
close any path and even opens some."
"This relationship is already very dense. We want it to be
deepened, we want it to become an exceptional relationship."
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner
told Reuters that while there was no membership offer "we are
not prejudging the future".
Yushchenko called the summit an "absolute success".
"Today we are starting a very ambitious plan that should
lead us to ultimate victory," he told the news conference.
"The main thing is that today we qualified as a European
country...This is the first step of this great road, which all
countries that then became EU members, walked on."
He said Ukraine expected the association agreement would be
signed in the second half of 2009. Sarkozy said the deal would
be completed next year.
KEY ENERGY ROUTE
Ukraine is an important energy route for Europe and seen as
crucial to the long-term goal of the EU to secure its energy
supply, for which it relies heavily on Russian oil and gas.
An explicit statement of future membership prospects has
been blocked by the Benelux countries, with Germany and Italy
also not keen, not least to avoid straining ties with Moscow.
Britain, the Nordic countries and former communist states
such as Poland championed Ukraine's cause.
Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Andriy Veselovsky, said Kiev
was a victim of a lack of EU unity but had still made progress.
"Of course the recent developments show us that we would
wish more and it is necessary for the European Union to give us
more," he said in reference the Russian intervention in Georgia
and concerns Kiev could be the next target for Russian pressure.
Russia has been incensed by the pledge of eventual NATO
membership to Ukraine and Georgia, another former Soviet state,
and many see this as the spur for its intervention in Georgia.
Russia agreed with Sarkozy on Monday to withdraw its troops
from Georgia's heartland within a month but there was no
commitment to scale back its military presence in two Georgian
separatist regions.
Sarkozy said there was no sign in his talks with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev that Moscow wanted to shift the
borders of neighbouring Ukraine.
http://www.france24.com/en/20080909-...ev&navi=EUROPE
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Originally Posted by perun
The Ukrainians are culturally closer so less likely to cause cultural differences related problems (though the Chinese aren't causing any troubles either as they customarily keep a low profile and mind their own business all over the world). Besides we have an Ukrainian minority already for centuries and they have the reputation of being hard working and reliable.
