EU Condemns Ukraine For Abandoning Association Deal

(Vatican Radio) The European Union has expressed disappointment with Ukraine's decision to abandon a planned alliance with its Western neighbours. EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton made the remarks after Ukraine's government announced it had suspended negotiations with the 28-member Union on a landmark trade association agreement.


"This is a disappointment not just for the EU but, we believe, for the people of Ukraine," Ashton said in a statement. She said signing the pact "would have provided a unique opportunity to reverse the recent discouraging trend of decreasing foreign direct in investment" in the former Soviet state "and would have given momentum to negotiations on a new standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund".


The government's decision came after Ukrainian opposition legislators shouted "shame, shame". They were furious that members of President Viktor Yanukovich's party voted against granting his jailed political rival Yulia Tymoshenko leave from prison to receive medical treatment for reported chronic back pain.


Members of Tymoshenko's Fatherland party wore white T-shirts with the slogan "Freedom to Ukraine"; Legislators of boxer-turned politician Vladimir Klitschko's party sported red shirts reading "Ukraine is Europe."


Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on what her supporters view as trumped up charges of abuse of power in en energy deal with Russia.


The the EU had warned that failing to free Tymoshenko could impact the signing of a crucial Association Agreement with Ukraine, later this month.


But after the vote Ukraine's government said it had suspended

the “process of preparation” for the agreement “to ensure national security”.


The decision, it said, was motivated by a need to bolster economic ties with neighbor Russia. Moscow has strongly objected to Ukraine's closer ties with the EU. It wants Ukraine to join its customs union which also includes other former Soviet states.


Ukrainian President Yanukovich has proposed a trilateral trade commission made up of Ukraine, the EU and Russia. But EU officials have made clear their patience is running out, explained Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.


"Frankly speaking, if it is true what was said, if the position of the country [Ukraine] is clear, what could be there for other positions?," he wondered. "That means no signature."

However, "If there is no signature now, nobody knows when it is possible," the minister warned.



The Eastern Partnership summit where the agreement was to be signed will still be held next Thursday and Friday in Lithiania's capital Vilnus, but most like without Ukraine's participation.


Listen to Stefan Bos’ report: