Brussels, 18/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 18 November, the EU foreign affairs ministers called for progress from Ukraine so as to be able to sign the association agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on 29 November. On Tuesday 19 November, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle will meet Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said that the ministers had a good discussion and noted the progress in a number of criteria laid down by the EU. They support the mission of presidents Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwasniewski, she said. The ministers decided to discuss Ukraine's progress behind closed doors. No decision was taken on whether or not to sign the association agreement and the procedure which could be used to decide remains “uncertain”, according to a European source.
Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Bildt told the Council that the mission is still working and, until it has finished, “the discussion is premature”. He added that “Vilnius is at the end of next week. We will see. It's too early”. “The Vilnius summit still has a chance of being a historic summit (..). But I've warned the Ukrainian authorities on several occasions not to leave the different points [to resolve] until the last minute. This is unfortunately what has happened, thus making the final result uncertain”, said Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
Making the necessary reforms. Just like at the summit on 21 October, the ministers appealed to Kiev to take action. “I launch an urgent appeal to Ukraine to take action now, to agree on a viable path for the rule of law, and not to gain time”, said Germany's Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle, reiterating that “time is short”. For the UK's David Livingston, “it is vital that the EU be clear to Ukraine (…). We want to see the signature in Vilnius but (…) this is still not guaranteed.” “The reforms must be permanent and irreversible and not just reforms for Christmas”, he said. In the view of Luxembourg's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Asselborn, “Europe is not to be played with. The conditions are clear”. “It is important to sign the agreement. Ukraine must be encouraged to fulfil the conditions”, said his Irish counterpart, Eamon Gilmore, who added that while progress has been made on selective justice, it is not enough.
Bildt said that “everything is in the hands of President Yanukovych. We have a policy but I'm not sure that he has a policy”. Austria's Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Spindlegger said that he would try to convince the president “to do something” at their meeting on 21 November.
Part of the Tymoshenko iceberg has emerged. “We want Ukraine to be Europe-oriented. But the pre-conditions must be fulfilled. And that includes especially the rule of law. For this, the case of [former Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko surely has a particular significance”, said Westerwelle. In addition to the Tymoshenko case, the ministers are expecting progress on the rule of law. “Positive development in justice is needed. This is not the case of a person. It's an emblematic case [the Tymoshenko case] but more generally, it is the whole situation on the human rights level, on the rule of law that we will assess with the Commission”, said Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders. On the same lines, Gilmore said that not everything focuses on the Tymoshenko case but “it's a symbol, an indication of where Ukraine is on the issue of the rule of law” (our translation throughout).
On 19-22 November, the Ukrainian Parliament, the Rada, is meeting for its last session before the Vilnius summit. During this session, it could adopt in second reading the electoral law and the law on the office of the general prosecutor. The members of parliament will also try to agree on a law to authorise prisoners to receive medical care abroad - and thus to allow Tymoshenko to leave for Germany to receive treatment for disc hernias. (CG with JK/transl.fl)