Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet disagrees that the West is pressuring Ukraine to persuade it to have closer ties with the European Union.
“The EU is interested in seeing as many as possible democratic and economically developed countries governed by law with as a low level of corruption as possible and so on in Europe. And the EU’s cooperation with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova is aimed at attaining these very ends,” Paet said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In commenting on the presence of numerous Western political figures and government officials at a pro-European opposition rally at Independence Square in Kyiv, Paet said, “It is clear that Western people sharing these views are willing to support people in Ukraine as well.”
“As concerns Russian policymakers, they travel there regularly, pursuing their policy and explaining their views and positions, and the fact that they have not been there in the past several weeks is not really relevant,” he said.
Paet denied the opinion that the European Union is seeking expansion by admitting Eastern Partnership countries at any cost, saying that policymakers from a number of EU countries are not hurrying to say ‘yes’ to the new potential members, i.e. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
“It is just wrong to say that the EU wants to expand whatever it takes, gritting its teeth,” he said.
“Even when there was much more European enthusiasm under the previous government of Ukraine, the EU’s position was rather to cool down this ardor. It hasn’t changed now. There are still politicians in the EU who would not deal with Eastern Europe at all,” he said.
At the same time, Paet believes the doors to the EU should be open to all European countries wishing to join and who complies with its criteria. “In my view, the EU should wish to expand much more,” he said.
