You're reading: Bildt hopes 2014 will be better year for Ukraine

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Carl Bildt hoped Ukraine would enter 2014 strong and united, with a credible program of economic reforms supported by the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

“I am afraid 2013 has not been the best of years for Ukraine. I hoped
it would be different. I hoped Ukraine would enter 2014 strong and
united, with a credible program of economic reforms supported by the
IMF, and with a signed Association and Deep Free Trade Agreement with
the European Union,” he wrote in the article for the Ukrainska Pravda
online publication published on December 27.

The minister said that there is no easy way out of the current crisis.

“The ill advised decisions over the last couple of weeks [in
particular, agreements reached with Russia] have made the situation
worse, but years of mismanagement had already brought the country to the
brink of economic collapse,” Bildt said.

He said that unless Ukraine is ready to sign up to a more or less
permanent dependency on Moscow’s good will – the only way forward is a
program of comprehensive economic reforms, ideally supported by IMF.

“Such a program will not be without short term pain. But once
implemented, it would allow Ukraine to return to solid ground and build a
much better future,” he wrote.

The minister said that such a reform program could also include a renewed – and more genuine – European choice.

“It is a country of great promise – from Lviv in the West to Luhansk
in the East – and there is no reason why it should constantly fall short
of its potential,” he said.

“My hope is therefore that 2014 will be a better year for Ukraine, a
year when the country is able restore trust and rediscover the way
forward,” the minister said.

“A people that can pursue their protest week after week in sub zero
temperatures can also bear the hardship of painful but necessary
economic reforms, and a population that come together for the largest
ever pro European demonstration deserve one day to see also their
country fully engaged in European co-operation. Ukraine is European
country, and it belongs within the European family of nations,” Bildt
said.