Brussels – The issue of the possible postponement or cancelation of the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit hasn't been raised in Brussels, and neither has been the issue of banning entry to any Ukrainian officials been considered, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fuele has said.
He said this in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine on the eve of his trip to Ukraine on February 7-8.
When asked about the possible cancellation or postponement of the February 25 summit due to the new charges brought against former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko, Fuele said that the date of the summit had been agreed, and the preparations for the summit were ongoing.
“I believe this summit will be extremely important in terms of results and expectations. This summit will make sure that this road map between ‘now and the Vilnius summit’ will be accompanied by the Ukrainian side delivering on its requirements, which will allow us to sign the Association Agreement in Vilnius. I do not see reasons even for speculating about not having the summit,” the European commissioner said.
At the same time, Fuele said it was important that both parties do their utmost to create a most conducive environment for the February summit.
“The summit always reflects the current mood, it always reacts to the topical stories around that time. The summit does not happen in a vacuum,” he added.
When asked, what are the current sentiments in the EU concerning the new charges against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the health condition of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, Fuele said that Brussels had a certain understanding and expectation that after the parliamentary election in Ukraine that the European Parliament’s observation mission, consisting of former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and former European Parliament President Pat Cox “will be able not only to continue its work as such but also to bring more positive news concerning addressing and solving those issues of politically motivated justice.”
“That has not happened. Instead, we saw during recent weeks an escalation of the situation around Tymoshenko and Lutsenko. I think the mood in member states and in the EU institutions reflects exactly this, but it doesn’t mean that we do not want to talk about these issues critically at the summit. I hope very much that Cox-Kwasniewski mission will bring some positive elements for the de-escalation of the situation,” he said.
The European commissioner also said the EU had no actual intentions to introduce a visa ban for any of Ukrainian officials, including First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin, which was recently suggested by Head of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok.
Fuele said there were no proposals to ban visas to any of Ukrainian officials.
