European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has said that if Kyiv meets the commitments needed for the signing of the association agreement this will consolidate Ukraine democratically.
Speaking at a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Fule said that the Ukrainian authorities needed to address the issue of selective justice and prevent its recurrence through comprehensive judiciary reform, as well as hold other reforms set out in the association agenda.
"If these commitments are fulfilled, this would consolidate Ukraine democratically and would enable us to sign the Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, possibly by the time of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013," he said.
According to him, Ukraine is well aware that it needs to take decisive actions and make tangible progress by the time of the Vilnius Summit.
"This steady process is important as there are a number of milestones between now and the summit. In recent weeks we have worked intensively with Kyiv at all levels to ensure that there is no gaps between our expectations and to help it deliver on the steps required to get us to signature in Vilnius," he said.
The European commissioner said that Brussels had noted some encouraging signals from Kyiv - in particular the more efficient political management of this process.
