BERLIN (AP) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych underlined his country’s desire to eventually join the European Union at a meeting Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and received a friendly but noncommittal response.
Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, focused instead on the need to deepen ties first through a new cooperation agreement and a possible free-trade zone.
The EU has made clear to Ukraine that membership is not on the agenda for the moment, even though Ukrainian officials have stated it as a strategic goal.
“We have heard and sensed that there are signals that the door to the EU remains open for Ukraine, and that this will be fixed in the agreement,” said Yanukovych, striking an upbeat tone.
Still, he acknowledged that Ukraine, which gained independence with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, “still has much to do to raise the standard of living of the people and meet the standards of the EU.”
Merkel said she and Yanukovych had discussed Ukraine’s efforts at political and economic reform “and I gladly took note of this.”
But she added she had made it clear the EU was still sorting out changes to its decision-making structure, including a possible new constitution. The EU has made clear further expansion beyond Bulgaria and Romania, which joined on Jan. 1, must wait until that issue is resolved.
Merkel focused instead on negotiations for a new Ukraine-EU cooperation agreement, to replace an earlier agreement that expires in 2008, and the possibility of a free-trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
“I understand the wishes, I explained the situation and now we are working on the next stretch,” she said. “That stretch means a deepening of our relationship, and when we get to the point of a free trade agreement we will have achieved real progress.”
Yanukovych took office last year in an awkward power-sharing arrangement with President Viktor Yuschchenko.
The Russian-leaning Yanukovych’s coalition has trimmed Yushchenko’s authority and sought to counter the president’s strongly pro-Western push in foreign policy, putting Ukraine’s move toward NATO membership on hold.
