Association Agreement not likely to mention Ukraine's EU membership prospects, say experts
Kyiv, November 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – It's unlikely a statement on the prospects for Ukraine's membership of the European Union will be included in the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the union, experts have said.
"One would be naive to think that Europe could agree to this. It did not [agree] when [third Ukrainian President Viktor] Yuschenko and [former Ukrainian Premier Yulia] Tymoshenko had power, and they will not agree now. The issue is not about the personalities of the presidents or some peculiarities of our geopolitical situation," political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko said at a press conference hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on November 14.
According to him, the reason is that Europe is not ready to expand and allow big countries to join.
"If this clause existed, an additional problem of the ratification of the agreement would appear in addition to Tymoshenko and other aspects. That's why I would not consider this as a tragedy - this is a compromise," Fesenko said.
Sociologist Yevhen Kopatko agreed with this opinion and added that such a situation could be a compromise.
"The current authorities have done more than their predecessors, although this course had been declared for five years," he said.
According to him, Ukraine held talks with the EU under very difficult political conditions, including the trial of the former premier.
"You know, [under these conditions] it is difficult to do anything, and the Europeans have to understand this. To sum up, I would like to say that our state has done much more with respect to Europe and its values, but we have our difficulties and we have to understand them," Kopatko said.
Executive Director of the Bleyzer Foundation Oleh Ustenko said the EU representatives at the talks had no mandate to promise Ukraine membership prospects.
"The talks are over within frames of the mandate, the line was drawn within frames of the mandate," he said.
The expert added that Ukraine is a European state and its right to bid for membership of the EU cannot be denied.
"No one in Europe ever can object to Ukraine's claiming EU membership. If they have any objections to this, they're violating their own statutory documents, the statutory documents of the EU. Ukraine is a European state, and if we meet the rest of the criteria, we have the right to apply for EU membership," Ustenko said.