From left - presidents Ivan Gašparovič, Bronislaw Komorowski and Viktor Yanukovich at the Polish president's retreat in Wisla, southern Poland: photo - PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
“We want to help Ukraine to sign and then ratify the EU-Ukraine Association agreement in November of this year in Vilnius,” President Bronislaw Komorowski said after talks with Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and Slovakian president Ivan Gašparovič in Wisla, southern Poland.
For Ukraine to finally conclude years of negotiations with Brussels, all 27 EU Member States must agree to further cooperation with the ex-Soviet state and consent is also needed from the European Parliament.
The associate agreement with the EU requires Ukraine to make reforms in electoral legislation, judicial and economic reforms, among other measures.
“Striking a deal on macro-financial assistance to Ukraine would complement any future agreement between Ukraine and the IMF, and would thus be an important victory,” Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, Ambassador, Head of Mission of Ukraine to the EU writes in Euroctive.com, Thursday.
“I expect the Summit to provide encouraging signals on the way to a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the EU. It is my strong belief that both sides should do their best to meet each others expectations,” he adds.
Poland has been a key initiator of bringing ex-Soviet states closer to western structures including the EU, with the so-called ‘Eastern Partnership’ programme being the flag-ship of the policy.
At a meeting of foreign ministers from eleven European countries in Gdansk on Wednesday, Poland’s foreign minister Radolsaw Sikorski said that “2013 could be a breakthrough year for the Eastern Partnership”.
One stumbling block still remaining for closer cooperation between Ukraine and the EU is the continuing imprisonment of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence for abuse of powers when concluding an energy deal with Russia.
The EU has said that it is concerned that the treatment of Tymoshenko, an arch opponent of President Yanukovich, is “political in nature”.
Human Rights Watch and 23 other groups said in a letter to EU officials on Thursday that Ukraine’s human rights record must improve generally and that its treatment of sexual minorities needs special attention.
A number of bills pending in the Ukrainian parliament are “homophobic” the letter says in that they would “ban the promotion of homosexuality”.
“These homophobic bills are unacceptable for a country that aspires to deeper relations with the European Union,” said Anna Kirey, Finberg fellow at Human Rights Watch. “The EU should state clearly at the summit that discrimination against LGBT people has no place in the EU neighborhood.” (pg)
source: PAP