EU signs ‘historic’ accords with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova
EU signs ‘historic’ accords with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova
Brussels—The European Union signed “historic
“association accords with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova Friday as the three former Soviet republics pledged themselves to a future in Europe in
the face of bitter Russian opposition.
“This is a great day for Europe… the European Union stands by your side today more than ever
before,” European Council head Herman Van Rompuy said at the ceremony with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and prime ministers Irakli
Garibashvili of Georgia and Iurie Leanca of Moldova.
Van Rompuy said the deals contained “nothing that might harm Russia in any
way” and offered all sides the chance “to chart together a safer future.“
EU officials insist Russia has no reason to fear
the accords, which offer closer political and economic ties, but Moscow condemns them as harmful to its interests and an intrusion into what has
traditionally been its sphere of influence.
It did so again Friday immediately after the signing ceremony in Brussels, warning of
“serious consequences” to follow. “We will take all the necessary measures to protect our economy,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov told the ITAR-TASS state news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Ukrainian society is split after being forced to
choose between Europe and Russia.
Friday’s signing is a bitter pill to swallow for Putin who wanted Ukraine to join his own Eurasian
Customs Union, aimed at bringing the former Soviet states back into the Russian fold. Even if Ukraine has eluded him, Putin can, however, claim
partial success.
The EU originally offered the same deals to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus but they changed tack once Moscow warned of
serious consequences. Poroshenko said the deal would open up a whole new future for Ukraine, including Crimea which Moscow annexed in March, adding it
set the country firmly on course for membership of the European Union.
Ukraine had paid a high price in recent months for its ambitions to
become part of Europe, he said, but it was worth it because the country’s future as a European state, sharing European values, was at
stake.
“Long Live Ukraine, Long Live Europe,” he said in closing his address at the ceremony, attended by all 28 EU
leaders.
Garibashvili said Georgia shared the European values of democracy and freedom, switching into his native language so he could
“share his emotion with the Georgian people.
“Significantly, he said Abkhazia and South Ossetia, breakaway regions recognised by
Russia as independent since a 2008 war with Tbilisi, would also see the advantages of closer ties with the EU. “You are sharers in this
project,” he said.
Leanca pledged Moldova would make the most of its association agreement, promising that after “many ups and
downs … we will do everything to modernise” the country.
The accords open up the huge EU market of 500 million consumers to its new
partners and offers them aid and help in modernising their economies.
In return, they have to match EU norms on protection of human rights,
civil society, good governance and an independent judicial system. The signatures Friday are hugely symbolic given the crisis in Ukraine where a
Poroshenko peace plan and ceasefire due to expire late Friday hang in the balance.
The last-minute ditching of the association accord by
Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in November sparked demonstrations that eventually led to his ouster in February.
That,
in turn, led to an angry Russia annexing Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, plunging the West’s relations with the Kremlin to their lowest level
since the end of the Cold War. Agreements signed Friday let businesses in former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia trade freely in any
of the EU’s 28 member nations without tariffs or restrictions, as long as their goods and practices meet EU standards. Likewise, goods and
services from the EU will be sold more easily and cheaply in the three countries.
“There will undoubtedly be serious consequences for
Ukraine and Moldova’s signing,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said.
Georgia has already lost chunks of its
territory and Black Sea coast to rebels backed by Russia after a brief war with Russia in 2008. “The most important thing is to guarantee a
long-term cease-fire as a precondition for meaningful talks between the Kyiv authorities and representatives of the southeast (of Ukraine),”
Putin said Friday.
A second round of talks was being held Friday in eastern Ukraine between representatives of the mutinous regions and the
Kyiv government, also involving envoys from Russia and the EU, Russian news agencies quoted rebel leader Andrei Purgin as saying.
Perhaps more
important than the trade clauses is an accompanying 10-year plan for Ukraine to adopt EU product regulations. Such rules ease the way for
international trade beyond Europe.
The trade deal also demands that Ukraine change the way it does business. Adopting EU rules on government
contracts, competition policy and copyright for ideas and inventions should improve Ukraine’s economy by reducing widespread corruption and
making it more investor-friendly.
Amanda Paul, a policy analyst at the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Center, said Russia has levers
to inflict serious economic pain on Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia through trade restrictions, cuts in energy supplies or the deportation of migrant
workers from those countries.
In Brussels, Poroshenko reminded EU leaders of the Ukrainians who died opposing Yanukovych’s government and
in the ongoing battle against the pro-Russian insurgency in the country’s east. He said Ukraine “paid the highest possible price to make
her European dreams come true.”
He asked EU leaders to take a further step and formally pledge that one day Ukraine can join the EU as a
full-fledged member. That “would cost the European Union nothing,” he said, “but would mean the world to my
country.”—Agencies