Verkhovna Rada chair hopes EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to be signed in November
The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Volodymyr Rybak has said he hopes Ukraine will sign the Association Agreement with the European Union no later than November 2013.
"Ukraine's strategic course towards European integration remains unchanged. European integration for us is first of all connected with implementation of systemic reforms. This is a long and uneasy way for young democracy in Ukraine and we hope for further assistance of Poland in the reform implementation process in Ukraine, considering Poland's experience in this sphere," he said at a meeting with Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine Henryk Litwin in Kyiv on Monday, according to the press service of the Verkhovna Rada.
Rybak stressed that the 16th EU-Ukraine Summit, due on February 25, is an important component of the dialogue between Ukraine and the EU.
"We hope that this summit would bring us closer to the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The signing of the Association Agreement is a priority task for Ukraine. We hope that the agreement will be signed without delay, as soon as the sides complete all technical procedures. We consider the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November this year as the deadline for the signing of the agreement," he said.
In turn, Litwin promised that Poland "will support Ukraine's aspirations for European integration, as it always has." He also expressed hope that the Association Agreement would be signed in 2013.
During the meeting Rybak also confirmed his intention to visit Poland to participate in the fifth meeting of the Ukraine-Poland-Lithuania Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. He also noted that he had informed about this his Polish counterpart, Bogdan Borusewicz, in a relevant letter dated January 23.
"Now we are waiting for Poland's proposal regarding the date of the meeting," he said.
Rybak also invited Polish parliamentarians to Kyiv to participate in the seventh meeting of the Ukraine-Poland Inter-Parliamentary Assembly that is to be held in the second half of 2013.
