Danish, Dutch, Lithuanian, and Polish Ministers See Ukraine as Member of European Family

KYIV, Ukraine, April 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

"The four of us see Ukraine as part of the European family," said the Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen during the meeting with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in Kyiv on April 25, quotes Interfax. The meeting included foreign ministers of Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland - Linas Linkevičius, Frans Timmermans, and Radosław Sikorski, respectively.

Minster Wammen spoke on behalf of the four ministers, noting that they all wanted Ukraine to have closer ties with Europe. Minister Timmermans said Ukraine were an important European country that had to make use of its potential. Minister Sikorski appreciated the progress in conducting the reforms in Ukraine.

Minister Linkevičius regarded the steps Ukraine took for the implementation of the EU Council conclusions on Ukraine, released after the 3,209^th Foreign Affairs Council meeting in December 2012. Linkevičius stressed that Ukraine should not lose the momentum on its way to reforms. He reckoned that 2013 could make history as one of the most important years for the EU and Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych expressed his confidence that the efforts of Ukraine on its way to European integration would bear fruit. "We hope that the Association and Free Trade Area Agreement will be signed in November," he said. It has been previously stated that Ukraine and the EU may sign the Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit which will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, in November 2013.

Minister Sikorski thanked Ukrainian president for the reforms that Ukraine has been performing in the recent years and for the pardoning of former state officials, informs podrobnosti.ua. Yuriy Lutsenko, who had been serving a four year prison sentence for embezzlement and abuse of office during his time as interior minister, was pardoned in April 2013.

Ukraine's European ambition keeps attracting international support. Just on April 23, 2013, 30 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe signed a declaration of support of Ukraine on its path to European integration. They welcomed the commitment of the Ukrainian authorities and reforms, as well as called on both sides to "make every effort to bring Ukraine closer to the European Union within the shortest period of time."