POZNAN, Poland -- Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski say that success of the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine depends on Kyiv. “Ukrainian authorities know what they have to do for the [EU-Ukraine] summit [in Kyiv on Dec. 19] to happen," said he during the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in Poznan on Nov. 29.
“We can’t take the decision for Ukraine," said the minister, responding to a question whether there will be an EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv next month and whether the association agreement, which can bring Ukraine closer to Europe, will be finalized.
A summit is scheduled to take place in Kyiv on Dec. 19, when Ukraine once had hopes of signing trade and visa-liberalization agreements.
"Ukraine will take the decision or fail to act which would be the decision. And then there will be consequences," he said.
However, the EU recently warned Ukraine that the agreement might not be initialized by the end of the year unless obstacles are resolved. Among them is the jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for exceeding her authority as prime minister when negotiating a gas agreement with Russia in January 2009.
She and much of the Western world call the charges politically motivated.
Earlier last week Sikorski and his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt went to Donetskon the invitation of Rinat Akhmetov, owner of the Shakhtar football club and one of the main backers of President Viktor Yanukovych, to watch a match between Shakhtar and Porto, a move widely viewed as an attempt to employ football diplomacy to salvage an association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. Akhmetov seemed pleased by the ministers’ visit, but didn’t give details.
