Warsaw, 30/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the Eastern Partnership summit which took place in Warsaw on 29-30 September, the 27 EU member states and their six eastern partners focused on the enhanced, comprehensive free-trade agreement with Ukraine - an economic partnership which has carried the day over the Iulia Tymoshenko affair.
The Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU welcomed the signing of this agreement with Ukraine. “We have reached agreement”, said smiling Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich replied: “The process is under way. It is up to us now to prepare our economy for the European market. This has already started. We've had an EU-Ukrainian business forum in Sopot” (Poland). Ukraine hopes to sign the free-trade agreement in December at a summit with the EU. It is banking heavily on the economic and political spin-offs of this association agreement. There is also a possibility that negotiations on a similar agreement with Georgia and Moldova might be opened “before the end of the year” on condition that sufficient progress has been made in a number of areas where recommendations were made, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Yanukovich said the next step is to begin the process leading to Ukraine's joining the European Union. This is a position shared by, for example, Poland and Hungary. Tusk said he wanted to work closely with the Ukrainians on their soon joining the EU. “Poland sees it as its role to work for enlargement towards the East. That will not happen immediately but someone has to make the moves. And that's where Poland comes in!” said Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.
In this debate, the Tymoshenko affair is problematic. According to European Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Štefan Füle, “there are no restrictions on the potential accession of Ukraine to the EU. But the political trial involving opposition leaders could slow the country's prospects of joining the EU”. This pressure was maintained by Van Rompuy: “This is a serious matter which could influence trade negotiations with Kiev. We have expressed our concern over the fate that awaits former prime minister Iulia Tymoshenko and we have rejected any possible selective use of the criminal code against members of the former Ukrainian government”. He confirmed that the issue had been raised several times with the Ukrainian president: at dinner, in plenary session and during the bilateral meeting over the course of the two days of the summit.
Polish Prime minister Tusk indicated: “We picked up some signs of goodwill on the part of the Ukrainian authorities on this issue. We'll just have to wait and see how the situation develops”.
While Poland and other Eastern European member states and, indeed, the United Kingdom see the Partnership as providing the possibility for eastern partners to join the EU, other countries have stated their total rejection of any such idea. France, especially, and also Germany are very wary of enlarging the borders of the EU to include Ukraine. “I can understand their expectation (of accession) but it would be counter-productive right now to launch discussion of the final form the relations between Ukraine and the European Union will take”, French Prime Minister François Fillon was quoted by a member of his entourage as saying. French Minister for European Affairs Jean Leonetti added: “Partnerships are not steps on the way to joining the European Union. Let us not allow these countries to believe things that aren't true and that could disappoint them, as has been the case with Turkey”. (VW/transl.rt)