BRUSSELS – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is planning to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych as part of the nuclear security summit, which will be held in Seoul (South Korea) on March 26-27.
"Last week in Strasbourg I talked to President Barroso who told me that on the occasion of the March summit on nuclear security in Seoul he would meet President Yanukovych and probably tell him that until the October election in Ukraine there is no way to sign or ratify the agreement. So let’s enjoy what we have," MEP Marek Siwiec wrote on his blog on the Web site euractiv.com, referring to his conversation with Barroso.
Siwiec said that the fact that the association agreement will be initialed "is almost certain."
"On March 30, the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine will be initialed," he said.
At the same time, he said that "it does not mean that things have begun to move forward in Ukraine."
"Both sides remain distant to the situation and this is why it is changing. [Former Ukrainian Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko is still in prison and the EU has limited to minimum the contact with our Eastern neighbor," Siwiec said.
He also pointed to "black clouds" over the Ukrainian economy and added that the negotiations with the IMF were unsuccessful. Siwiec also noted Russian pressure with respect to Ukraine’s accession to the common Eurasian economic space and added that "the scenario for the future seems unpleasant."
"I hope that the parliamentary election will be a turning point in the current relations between the EU and Ukraine. And I am not concerned about their outcome, but rather about the way it will be carried out. If it is labeled as free and fair, the discussion [between Ukraine and the EU] will follow," he said.
