The Ukraine-EU summit, which is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Kyiv, will be held despite strained relations between both sides, Interfax-Ukraine reported on Nov. 26 citing Deputy Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who heads Ukraine’s delegations to the EU which is negotiating the association agreement.
“There was a formal exchange of respective documents regarding the fact that the summit will be held on Dec. 19. And climate change is an issue that is addressed as part of the Kyoto process, rather than as part of relations between Ukraine and the EU," the diplomat said in an interview with www.zn.ua, a Ukrainian publication.
Asked whether the association agreement will be initialed at the summit, Klimkin said: “We’re working on this. However, this is rather a technical issue, unlike the signing and ratification. The initialing is a technical agreement by the parties on the text of the document. It means that the parties have reached agreement at some point, they have completed the talks on the text.”
EU officials have repeatedly warned Ukraine that closer relations depend on adherence to core EU values such as democracy. EU officials see Ukraine sliding away from these values under President Viktor Yanukovych.
European leaders have in recent months called upon Ukraine to release opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to a seven year jail sentence this autumn in a case that is widely seen in Ukraine and abroad as an attempt by Yanukovych to sideline his rival. Brussels has explicitly warned that Tymoshenko’s arrest and a broader witch hunt against opposition politicians threatens to derail Ukraine’s chances of EU integration.
Ukrainian officials appear to be ignoring these warnings.
On Nov. 25, Ukraine’s representative to the EU Kostiantyn Yeliseyev said that the chances of initialing the EU-Ukraine association agreement still existed.
“The situation around the initialing of the association agreement is very difficult but not hopeless. The chances, although they are slight, but, in my opinion, still exist. In the next few days, they will be decisive in this regard," the diplomat said in an appearance on Channel 5.
