The joint statement by the leaders of Ukraine and the EU following the summit in Brussels on Oct. 6, which is now being agreed, is a rather ambitious document that records progress on priority issues for Ukraine in relations with the EU, Deputy Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva said.
“Despite the pandemic, which prevented us from implementing some plans for bilateral visits, Ukraine and the EU approached the summit with serious groundwork, which allows to provide the most meaningful and effective discussion at the summit on key issues on the agenda,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Zhovkva said that during the summit, important attention will be paid to the issues of renewing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In this context, the specific results of the summit include the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia’s construction of a railway across Kerch bridge. Ukraine will also present to EU leaders an initiative to create Crimean Platform and plans to discuss ways to involve the EU in its implementation. It is expected that following the summit, the EU side will confirm that the EU sectoral sanctions against the Russian Federation will remain in force until the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. “Today we have full support from the EU for Ukraine’s efforts within the peaceful settlement in Donbas,” Zhovkva said.
The deputy head of the President’s Office also drew attention to the fact that Ukraine’s participation in EU-led operations will be resumed after an almost seven-year hiatus by sending a Ukrainian representative to the EUFOR Althea operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to him, Ukraine will present at the summit its proposals to update the Association Agreement with the EU, in particular in the trade and industry part. “The relevance of updating the agreement is due to significant changes in the structure of the economies of Ukraine and the EU since the negotiations on the agreement (2007-2011), as well as new trends in the development of the EU and the progress of Ukraine,” Zhovkva said.
He said that the agreement is expected to start a joint assessment of the achievement of the goals of the Association Agreement in 2021.
Overall, the summit’s joint statement is expected to reaffirm the overall goal of Ukraine’s gradual integration into the EU’s internal market based on the implementation of the Association Agreement.
As for sectoral cooperation, an important achievement of the summit will be the start of the work of an expert assessment mission on Ukraine’s readiness to conclude an agreement on the so-called “industrial visa-free travel”.
Zhovkva said that it is also expected to agree on the timing of the signing of the EU-Ukraine Common Aviation Area Agreement.
In addition, there is every reason to expect a positive assessment of Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations under the visa-free regime and confirmation of the EU’s readiness to fully open borders for Ukrainian citizens and restore freedom of movement after the epidemic situation improves.
He said that during the summit, financial agreements will be signed within the European Neighborhood Instrument, providing for collecting the EU assistance totaling $60 million, including support for eastern Ukraine (30 million euro), support for civil society (20 million euro) and climate (10 million euro).
The agreements will be signed with the European Investment Bank as well, providing for the attraction of financing for improving the energy efficiency of public buildings (loan amount of 300 million euro) and modernization and digitalization of Ukrposhta (loan amount of 30 million euro).
