German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is to visit Ukraine on Friday, June 21, on his way to Lithuania.
The visit will take place at the initiative of the German side, Deutsche Welle reported with reference to the German Foreign Ministry.
Westerwelle will spend half a day in Kyiv and then will go to Kaunas (Lithuania), where he is to report on the results of his meetings with Ukrainian officials.
On Friday, June 21, Westerwelle will meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara. Moreover, the German foreign minister is to meet with Yevhenia Tymoshenko, the daughter and a defense counsel of convicted former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, and the leaders of opposition parties, Vitali Klitschko and Arseniy Yatseniuk, Deutsche Welle reported.
The meetings are to address Ukraine’s progress in fulfilling EU requirements for the signing of the Association Agreement, as well as the solution of the issue of selective justice. According to the German Foreign Ministry, special attention will be paid to the situation with Tymoshenko.
“Germany supports the European path of Ukraine. We want to build closer ties between Ukraine and the EU, and we hope to sign an Association Agreement in autumn. But this path of association with the EU can take place only based on common European values. Germany acknowledges the progress that Ukraine has already made in this matter. However, further reforms, especially in the justice system, need to be done in the coming months. Germany is ready to support Ukraine on this path,” DW reported, quoting a German Foreign Ministry official statement.
