The European Parliament's observation mission of former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and ex-European Parliament President Pat Cox in Ukraine has been prolonged until the Vilnius summit.

This decision was made at a conference of European Parliament presidents in Brussels on Wednesday evening, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

Incumbent European Parliament President Martin Schulz said at a press conference following the presentation of the mission's report that this decision had been adopted unanimously by all political group leaders.

The conference unanimously adopted a decision to prolong the mission's mandate until the beginning of the Vilnius summit, he said.

When addressing the mission's work, Schulz mentioned the number of its visits to Ukraine and praised Cox and Kwasniewski for their contribution to the search for a political solution to the Ukraine issue.

Using the report presented by the European Parliament's Cox-Kwasniewski mission, EU member countries will decide whether they should sign an association agreement with Ukraine at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius later this month.

Cox and Kwasniewski were appointed on June 11, 2012 to monitor the court proceedings in the case of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The mandate of their mission was subsequently prolonged.

Ukrainian parliamentarians were expected to debate so-called "European integration" bills at a special session on November 13. However, two of the proposed bills (one concerning the Prosecutor General's Office and another one dealing with parliamentary elections) had not been prepared by parliamentary committees in time for the session due to a large number of submitted amendments. The third bill, which would allow convicted persons, including Tymoshenko, to receive medical treatment abroad, was not ready either.

The EU, however, wants Ukraine to pass these three bills ahead of the November 28-29 Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, where the Ukraine-EU association agreement may be signed.