The chances of Ukraine signing an association agreement with the European Union are not as close as Ukrainian authorities are saying.
Aside from temporary
technical obstacles, Brussels, the
27-nation bloc’s administrative capital, is putting out the message
that Ukraine has to meet the democratic prerequisites if the nation
wants to align itself with the EU.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to
the EU Kostyantyn Yeliseyev said last month that the signing of the
association agreement is not yet scheduled as Brussels is busy
translating the 1,200-page document into 21 official EU languages.
While it
is true that both Ukraine and the EU are currently in the final
stages of translating the deal into national languages, that’s not
the holdup. The EU is expected to complete the translation by the end
of the year. The political situation under President Viktor
Yanukovych, including the imprisonment of ex-Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko, is the sticking point.
The association
agreement, part of which including a free trade zone, could move
Ukraine closer to the EU, which is Kyiv’s top foreign policy
priority. The agreement was initialed earlier this year. In order to
take full force, the deal has to be signed by the EU and Ukrainian
leadership and then ratified in all EU countries and in Ukrainian
parliament.
Yesileyev said the
agreement’s translation will be done in a few months and sought to
assure that the signing of the agreement is not under threat.
“Signing of the agreement will take place right after technical
finishing, since it is in the interests of Ukraine and the EU,”
Yeliseyev said in a televised interview on Channel 5.
However, the
press service of the EU delegation in Kyiv, in response to questions
by the Kyiv Post, wrote: “Ukraine’s performance, notably in
relation to respect for common European values and the rule of law,
will be of crucial importance for the speed of its political
association and economic integration with the EU, including in the
context of signing and concluding the association agreement.
The EU pointed three
areas where Ukraine still has to show progress in order to conclude
the agreement include holding the Oct. 28 “parliamentary elections
in line with international standards, the address the consequences,
and prevent recurrence of selective justice, and progress on the
reform agenda, as set out in the association agenda.”
Yanukovych has drawn
the West’s criticism for jailing his political opponents and
reversing democracy in the country.
As a result,
the EU limited contacts with Ukrainian leadership on the highest
level. Only Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski is not shy about
shaking hands with Yanukovych. Poland fears that Ukraine might slip
into Russia’s orbit if Brussels does not stay actively engaged with
Kyiv.
Another sign
of sour relations with the West is the fact that the date for the
annual EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels, which normally takes place
every year between September and December, has not been set.
On Oct. 17,
the EU delegation in Kyiv said the summit will most likely take place
in early 2013, saying the Oct. 28 parliamentary election in Ukraine
caused delays.
Kyiv Post staff
writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]
