Ukraine, EU Officials Welcome Association Agreement Initialing

KYIV, Ukraine, April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Commenting on the initialing of the parts of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, a number of European and Ukrainian officials marked its significance in the association process. The President of Poland, members of the European Parliament, as well as the President of Ukraine, Prime Minister, and top officials made their respective statements on the issue.

The European Union made it clear that by initialing the Association Agreement the negotiations had been completed, said MEP Elmar Brok, the Chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. The Agreement would provide benefits for the economy and the people of Ukraine, he added.

Implementation of European standards will be Agreement's biggest impact in the foreseeable future, said Ukraine's foreign minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, voicing the official position of Kyiv concerning the initialing. The Association Agreement will be signed in 6 to 12 months, he said. Successful fulfillment of the document will bring Ukraine closer to the membership in the EU, reckoned the minister.

According to PACE Vice-President Ivan Popescu, the Association Agreement initialing was a huge step forward towards reaching Ukraine's strategic goal of European integration.

Ukraine perceives Association Agreement as comprehensive program of reforms, said the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in his interview with GazetaPrawna. Following the initialing, the government of Ukraine would continue implementing European standards, said the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov.

The initialing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU was the result of effective negotiations and notable amount of work performed in a short period of time, said member of the European Parliament Marek Siwiec while welcoming the initialing.

In a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski expressed his appreciation of the initialing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

The members of Ukrainian and European delegations put their initials onto pages of the political part of the Association Agreement, as well as the select parts of economic part, on March 30, 2012, in Brussels. The text of the agreement provides for establishing closer economic, cultural, and social ties between the signees. Among other questions, it concerns the introduction of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU.