Ukraine and the European Union have reached a compromise on the issue of mentioning EU membership prospects in the Association Agreement, the Kommersant Ukraine Newspaper said on Monday.
The newspaper noted that Brussels hosted the final round of the negotiations on an association agreement between Ukraine and the EU on Friday, November 11.
"Despite the fact that the negotiators have announced that they haven’t reached agreement concerning the European [Union membership] prospects, the newspaper learned that a compromise was reached: In particular on this issue, and Kyiv has decided not to demand mentioning [EU membership prospects] in the document. Here, the concessions were made by Ukraine in the first place, which has given up its demands to include the relevant clause in the preamble to the agreement," the newspaper said.
According to the report, in addition to EU membership prospects, two key issues still remain unresolved – the term of the agreement and the introduction of the norms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court into Ukrainian legislation.
"On Friday, the EU made perceptible concessions, which allowed it to reach a compromise. Formally, the duration of the Association Agreement will be indicated, but there will be the possibility of an automatic renewal of the agreement with the consent of the parties," the newspaper quoted a Ukrainian diplomat as saying.
In addition, Kyiv promised to introduce necessary changes to Ukraine’s constitution concerning compliance with the decisions of the International Criminal Court.
