Ukrainian foreign minister pledges broad reforms on way to eu entry
26 March 2007
Published in Inform Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Diplomacy Ukraine Ukrainian foreign minister pledges broad reforms on way to EU entry Brussels Ukraine's Foreign Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Monday vowed to work on broad-based reforms in his country and said that a planned new agreement on closer ties with the European Union was a "big and complicated home test" for Ukraine.
The wide-ranging deal focuses on ensuring energy security for the EU and is also expected to pave the way for a free trade area.
Diplomacy Ukraine Ukrainian foreign minister pledges broad reforms on way to EU entry Brussels Ukraine's Foreign Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Monday vowed to work on broad-based reforms in his country and said that a planned new agreement on closer ties with the European Union was a "big and complicated home test" for Ukraine.
The wide-ranging deal focuses on ensuring energy security for the EU and is also expected to pave the way for a free trade area.
"We are well aware that the question of
full-fledged (EU) membership for Ukraine is
extremely long in terms of time," Yatseniuk told
reporters after a meeting with EU External
Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner.
"But this way (to EU membership) has to be filled with integration, economical integration, educational integration, humanitarian integration," Yatseniuk said.
The new agreement with the EU would give Ukraine "new opportunities, it is a big and complicated home test for Ukraine but also for the EU," he added.
EU and Ukrainian officials are meeting for a second round of negotiations on a new cooperation deal at the beginning of April, Ferrero-Waldner said.
However, Ferrero-Waldner said that talks on a free-trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine would only start once Kiev has finalised its accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The EU has stressed that aspiring member state Ukraine is one of the 27-member bloc's key energy partners.
The EU said earlier this month that it wanted closer ties with Kiev following progress in consolidating democracy in the country, but it did not set a date for possible accession to the bloc.
While a new cooperation deal with Ukraine would underpin the EU's commitment to support political and economic reforms in the country, the bloc underlined that such a pact should not prejudge any possible future developments in relations with the EU.
Experts say that Ukraine, an important energy transit country, could be useful for the EU in negotiating a new partnership agreement with Russia, in securing future energy imports and in tackling frozen ethnic-territorial conflicts in the European neighbourhood.
"But this way (to EU membership) has to be filled with integration, economical integration, educational integration, humanitarian integration," Yatseniuk said.
The new agreement with the EU would give Ukraine "new opportunities, it is a big and complicated home test for Ukraine but also for the EU," he added.
EU and Ukrainian officials are meeting for a second round of negotiations on a new cooperation deal at the beginning of April, Ferrero-Waldner said.
However, Ferrero-Waldner said that talks on a free-trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine would only start once Kiev has finalised its accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The EU has stressed that aspiring member state Ukraine is one of the 27-member bloc's key energy partners.
The EU said earlier this month that it wanted closer ties with Kiev following progress in consolidating democracy in the country, but it did not set a date for possible accession to the bloc.
While a new cooperation deal with Ukraine would underpin the EU's commitment to support political and economic reforms in the country, the bloc underlined that such a pact should not prejudge any possible future developments in relations with the EU.
Experts say that Ukraine, an important energy transit country, could be useful for the EU in negotiating a new partnership agreement with Russia, in securing future energy imports and in tackling frozen ethnic-territorial conflicts in the European neighbourhood.