Experts: Ukraine should meet its commitments on signing of Association Agreement with EU by this summer
Kyiv, February 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The deadline for Ukraine to meet its commitments to sign the Association Agreement with the EU is the beginning of this summer, according to a number of experts.
"The message is clear: the deadline is November. Obviously, after that, judging by the rigid position of the EU, the agreement in its present form will no longer be considered... But, in my opinion, this deadline will come even earlier, because it takes time to obtain a mandate from [EU] countries and pass through the EU's bureaucratic procedures, and a realistic date is late spring or early summer. Later, it will be technically impossible," Deputy Director of the Razumkov Center Valeriy Chaly said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
Head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko supported this opinion. He said that it was necessary to distinguish between the deadline for the signing of the agreement, which is due in November, and the fulfillment of conditions by Ukraine.
"There is a deadline for meeting commitments. This deadline, judging by what European diplomats say, is really the end of May through the beginning of July. I think that by the end of this spring season, before the summer holidays, we will have to meet, if not all, but most important demands of the European Union... that must be met before the signing of the agreement," the expert said.
Director of Ukraine's Institute for Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov, in turn, said that Brussels was "tired of uncertainty in relations between the European Union and Ukraine."
Chaly also expressed a similar view. He said he would describe as "tough rhetoric" the statements made by EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule.
"There is certain fatigue from Ukraine, and those who are already dealing with this issue apparently want to give some very clear signals. But Mr. Fule has already been here seven times. He is constantly communicating with Ukrainian representatives. So he spoke in a way that could have no two interpretations," Chaly said.
He said that the commissioner's visit to Ukraine was successful and that for Ukraine the visit was "a statement about an opening up of windows of opportunity."
According to Fesenko, the statements by Fule and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite are the "penultimate warning" for Brussels.
"The tough statements by Stefan Fule and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, in my opinion, are the penultimate European warning. Not last, because the process is more extended in time, and it seems that the Europeans will strictly monitor each phase of the implementation of the stated demands," the analyst said.
At the same time, he said that critical evaluations of the fulfillment by Ukraine of its commitments would also be announced at the EU-Ukraine summit.
In addition, Chaly said that there was an emphasis on the importance of not only what laws are passed, but also their content.
"Now, in fact, we're talking that the EU not accepting some laws, the adoption of which would meet some conditions. This concerns the protection of personal data, the law on the demographic register, anti-discrimination legislation, minority rights and anti-corruption laws, that is we are talking about the creation of an anti-corruption body, which was not done, and the review of the positions set out in laws with good names, but unacceptable meanings for the EU," the expert said.
Fesenko noted that this "homework" concerns not only the executive branch of government, because the laws, the adoption of which is necessary to meet the conditions, have to be voted for in parliament.
"Therefore the question of stability in the parliament's work is important. The opposition should also remember this," the expert said.