“The signing of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine at the November Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius is in danger,” said Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, speaking at a June 24 meeting of EU diplomacy heads in Luxembourg.
The meeting
is expected to focus on the strategy towards the Eastern Partnership, the EU’s
program for relations with six former Soviet countries, including Ukraine.
Relations
between the two sides have soured under the presidency of
Viktor Yanukovych, particularly after the October 2011 arrest and imprisonment
of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
She is
currently serving a seven year sentence in an abuse of office case widely seen
in the West as politically motivated. Her poor health has been a topic of
recent talks between Yanukovych and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle,
with the possibility she may be released to undergo treatment in Germany.
While a major factor, Tymoshenko’s status is
not the only EU grievance towards Ukraine. In particular, the 27 member bloc
has pressed Ukraine to improve on rule of law, corruption, judicial reform, public
procurement and media freedoms.
The two
sides were currently in intense talks, Sikorski noted, with the EU focused on
election law and prosecutorial reform. Whether or not the agreement is signed depends
solely on Ukraine, but so far no progress has been made, he added.
“If Ukraine
doesn’t meet its obligations, there will be no signing,” Sikorski bluntly told Polish
press.
Europe had
previously set a May deadline for significant signs of progress to appear, but
it was pushed back until July and then later September.
The pardon
of former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, in a case also deemed by
many as politically motivated, in April 2013 brought hope of a shift in
Ukraine’s policy. At a summit of Central European states in Bratislava,
Slovakia’s capital, Polish President Bronisław Komorowski expressed high hopes
for a signing in November.
However, experts
note a lack of progress and in some cases even backtracking on human rights, media
freedoms and judicial reform could make things difficult.
Should the
two sides fail to sign the Association Agreement in November, EU delegation to
Ukraine head Jan Tombinski has warned that further progress would likely be
delayed until after the 2015 presidential election.
Meanwhile,
the issue of Ukraine weighs heavy on the prospects of the Eastern Partnership
in general, which aims to foster closer relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Since the
program’s launch in 2009, most countries have backtracked on democratic
reforms, leading some to question its purpose.
In February
2013, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Sweden wrote an unofficial paper advising
a shift in policy, which included greater emphasis on individual relations with
reforming countries, called for more regular meetings and greater visibility,
and the creation of a free trade area with all six nations.
Sikorski
went even further, calling for membership promise for the six nations – if they
meet necessary criteria – just like the one made to the Western Balkans in
2003.
Kyiv Post chief editor Jakub Parusinski can be
reached at [email protected].
