EU and Ukraine meet in Yalta for third summit (09/16/01)

EU and Ukraine meet in Yalta for third summit

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Leaders of the European Union and Ukraine met in Yalta, Crimea, on September 10-11 for their third annual summit - the first in Ukraine - which had been advertised as a turning point during which relations would move from plans and ideas to practical cooperation.

Although the final document did not suggest that a list of specific projects or activities had been developed, it did state that Kyiv and Brussels would now work more closely together to develop energy relations, to speed Ukraine's membership in the World Trade Organization and to resolve issues associated with illegal international migration as well as visa and border issues involved in the EU's planned expansion to the edge of Ukraine.

In the statement, which was signed by both sides, the EU also called on Ukraine to provide for fully open and transparent democratic elections to Parliament in 2002, which would "demonstrate democratic progress in Ukraine."

The final memorandum included language on the need for an improved legal basis for a truly free press, as well as support for deepening economic and administrative reforms and privatization and seeing those processes through to completion.

It asserted expectations that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development along with Euroatom would soon be in a position to finally extend promised credits to help Ukraine complete nuclear reactors near the Ukrainian cities of Rivne and Khmelnytski.

"The summit becomes an important step in the development of relations between Ukraine and the EU," the two sides agreed in the document.

The day-and-a-half session began the evening of September 10 with a banquet reception at President Leonid Kuchma's presidential residence. The EU delegation, included Guy Verhofstadt, prime minister of Belgium, whose country currently holds the revolving chair of the EU; Romano Prodi, president of the EU's European Commission; and Javier Solana, the EU's high commissioner for foreign and security policy.

The next morning the two sides met officially at the Livadia Palace for a half-day plenary session, which was followed by private meetings in the afternoon.

In opening remarks, President Kuchma emphasized that considerable progress had been made in relations between the two sides since the second summit held in Paris last September.

"The political dialogue between Ukraine and the EU during that period has been marked by an unusual openness and constructiveness," said Mr. Kuchma, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

He explained that his country now is more involved in matters of European security and defense, including the development of an all-European rapid deployment force. He said the two sides also had drawn closer on tariff regulations, which when agreed upon would allow the EU to support Ukraine's entry into the WTO.

The Ukrainian president emphasized also that the government is continuing to pursue administrative and economic reforms that would bring its system more closely in line with the rest of Europe. "We approach the summit fully armed," said Mr. Kuchma.

For his part, EU Chairman Verhofstadt stressed that the EU welcomes Ukraine's "European choice" and stated that Ukraine has been invited to the next European Conference because the country had recently experienced such progress.

He noted that it would be to Ukraine's benefit in its attempt to draw closer to the EU to ensure that the March 2002 parliamentary elections are free, fair and open, "to dispel all doubts that recently appeared in the EU" regarding whether Ukraine is moving towards democracy.

"These elections are Ukraine's chance to show that freedom of the press is a reality and journalists have the possibility to work freely," explained Mr. Verhofstadt.

The Belgian prime minister stressed that Ukraine-EU relations are deepening and becoming ever more fruitful, especially in the spheres of energy, environmental protection and the battle against illegal migration and organized crime, as well as on the level of political dialogue in general.

Finally, he called for economic and administrative reforms to be swiftly completed to convince foreign investors that Ukraine is the place to go.

The summit, with all of its glad-handing and uplifting statements, was not without some controversy. On September 7 an EU official, Timo Summa, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the EU "troika" would have a tough message for President Kuchma at Yalta.

"If President Kuchma is serious about Ukraine's European choice and putting the Gongadze affair and the other scandals behind him, he must clarify relations between the state and the media, and ensure safety for foreign investors," explained Mr. Summa.

The comment seemed to ruffle a few feathers in Kyiv. President Kuchma's press secretary Oleksander Martynenko replied on September 10 that such meetings as the EU-Ukraine summit do not proceed from ultimatums but from an atmosphere of common interest and mutually acceptable decisions. He said that no pressure or threats had been observed in previous meetings and did not see any possibility for such in Yalta, which in the end proved to be true.

| Home Page |