UK Believes Ukraine Belongs to the EU

KYIV, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The UK continues to believe strongly that Ukraine belongs to the European family of states," reads the joint press statement following Foreign Secretary William Hague's meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara. In the document, the UK reaffirms its supports of the reform process in Ukraine. Additionally, both parties stated their intent to work on making the 3^rd Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2013 in Vilnius a success.

"We talked about how the UK might support Ukraine's reform efforts, in particular how to strengthen Ukraine's judicial and legislative institutions in line with European values and practices," goes the joint statement published on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website. Just in February 2013, Ukrainian government introduced a 71 item list of the priority measures to forward european integration of the Eastern European country.

Reforms that Ukraine is currently implementing are included in the Association Agenda, adopted in 2009. According to the document, Ukraine has to comply with the standards of democracy, rule of law, human rights, fundamental freedoms, combat corruption, contribute to regional security, facilitate cooperation with the EU in the areas of justice, trade, energy, environmental issues, etc.

Following the requirements, in April 2013, Ukraine has joined the UN Protocol against illicit firearms and brought its national legislation into conformity with the standards of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. The final decision regarding Ukraine's progress will be made just prior the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, informed dt.ua.

In late 2012, the Council of the EU reiterated its commitment to the signing of the Association Agreement with Ukraine, "as soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate determined action and tangible progress in three key areas, possibly by the time of the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit," stated the press release following the Council meeting. The three areas are reforms implementation, elimination of selective justice, and the compliance of the 2012 parliamentary elections with international standards.

The summit in Vilnius will address the issues of political association and economic cooperation between the EU and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The more countries do to meet democratic and economic standards of the EU, the faster develops bilateral cooperation, as per EU conditions.