Yanukovych Still Wants EU Accord
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says Kyiv wants to sign a historic new pact with the European Union “in the nearest future” despite failing to do so at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius.
“I confirm Ukraine’s intention to sign the Association Agreement in the nearest future,” Yanukovych told reporters in Vilnius in comments released by his office.
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His statement comes as a final summit declaration to be released later on November 29 will restate the EU’s strong commitment to forging ties with Ukraine.
The declaration will say that the participants at the Vilnius summit “take note of the unprecedented public support for Ukraine’s political association and economic integration with the EU.”
Earlier on November 29, the EU completed initialing of association and free trade agreements with Georgia and Moldova in a ceremony in Vilnius.
The EU and officials of the two countries separately initialed the last pages of their association agreements, setting the stage for the two former Soviet states to sign formal EU association agreements in the future.
WATCH: Van Rompuy Congratulates Moldova And Georgia
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, welcomed the initialing of the accords: “I am delighted to stand here today to witness a very important event, the initialing of the Association agreements and the related DCFTAs [free trade accords] with Georgia and Moldova. This is an important milestone — it [marks] the start of the new phase in our relationship.”
He added, that he hoped to see the two countries move quickly to sign the accords as soon as possible.
A signed association agreement offers the signatory country the possibility of closer economic integration with the bloc, provided the candidate county adjusts its legal, judicial, and economic systems to fit certain EU norms.
Russian Pressure
Separately, the EU and Azerbaijan signed a visa facilitation accord that will speed up and simplify the process for granting Azerbaijani citizens visas to enter EU member states.
But EU officials at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius failed to persuade Ukraine to sign its Association Agreement and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU, which had been under negotiation for years.
Yanukovych met with EU leaders on the evening of November 28 as the two-day summit got under way.
But Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, who hosts the summit, said there had been no change in the Ukrainian position overnight, signaling an end to any hopes of a last minute change in Kyiv’s position.
Vilnius In Focus: Background and analysis
Grybauskaite criticized the Ukrainian government’s saying, “I think that the Ukrainian people are disappointed, it is not about Europe to be disappointed. I think that today’s Ukrainian leadership chose a way that is going nowhere.”
Days before the summit, Yanukovych said the EU’s aid offer was insufficient, and that Kyiv needed to pursue closer ties with neighboring power Russia.
Moscow has been applying political and economic pressure on Ukraine in a bid to persuade Kyiv to reject a formal alliance with the EU and instead join a Russian-led trade bloc.
The Vilnius summit is being attended by almost all of the leaders of the 28 EU member states, including leading powers Germany, France, and Britain.
The EU launched the Eastern Partnership Program with six former Soviet republics — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine — in 2009.