Brussels, 10/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Irrespective of the outcome, on Tuesday 11 October, of the controversial trial of Ioulia Timochenko, the EU decided on Monday 10 October to continue free-trade negotiations with Ukraine.
"There is no doubt that we will continue technical negotiations on the details", Catherine Ashton announced after a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 10 October of the European foreign ministers. "But there is also a political process", she stressed. "Whatever happens in Ukraine, this will be taken into account", she stressed, recognising the fact that the EU was "not very optimistic" over the outcome of what looks like a "selective application of justice".
"The decision to continue negotiations on the free-trade agreement and on the association agreement" with Kiev "fortunately prevailed" at the debate between the 27 European ministers, although they are prepared to "strongly condemn" any sentence not in Ms Timochenko's favour, said the Italian Minister Franco Frattini. With the verdict to be announced this Tuesday, "we are waiting to see what happens, but the technical negotiations may continue. Ukraine is a country which has a vocation to work with the EU", said the head of Italian diplomacy. However, it appears likely that, in the event that Ms Timochenko is found guilty, it will be extremely difficult to avoid delays in concluding this association agreement, which includes a major commercial plank, and which was initially scheduled for this December. The verdict in Ms Timochenko's case is without any doubt a test for the rule of law of our Ukrainian neighbour, said the head of German diplomacy, Guido Westerwelle. "If the test comes back negative, this could have consequences for the EU's relations with Ukraine". (LC/transl.fl)