Friday, September 19 2014

 

 

Would you characterize Ukraine’s European prospects following the Sept
16 ratification of Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the EU by the Supreme
Rada?   

 

September
16th has become a significant day for Ukraine, because on that day the Supreme
Rada ratified the very important Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. It is very
important and symbolic that the ratification took place synchronously with the
European Parliament. Thus, the phase of ratification of the Ukraine-EU
Agreement is over. The Ukrainian Parliament voted for ratification almost
unanimously. Only a few parliamentarians took no part in the voting. President
of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko once again stressed the great success which legally
fixes Ukraine's status on the path to the European integration.

 

The high-ranking officials of the EU
have repeatedly stressed that participation in Eastern Partnership (with
AA/DCFTA being part of it) does not lead to EU membership. Does your remark on
the prospects of Ukraine’s EU membership mean that the latest developments around
Ukraine have created special conditions for the country?   

 

I
do not think so. I only say that the ratification of the Association Agreement
is one of the phases of the path of Ukraine's EU membership. Naturally, it is
early to say when it will become possible. Nevertheless, on September 16 it was
once again emphasized that the ratification of the Agreement is nothing but a
phase of Ukraine's prospect to join the European Union.

 

In other words, you do not think
that the situation around and in Ukraine can speed up the given process,
especially given that Ukraine has said the last “good-bye” to the Soviet Union
by ratifying the Association Agreement, as President Poroshenko said...  

 

The
fact that the Supreme Rada and the European Parliament ratified the Association
Agreement almost simultaneously demonstrates the commitment of Ukraine and the
EU to promotion of further cooperation under the specified agreement.

 

On September 16, the Supreme Rada
signed two more important documents…  
 

 

Indeed, two very important documents
were adopted on September 16 by the Supreme Rada. They concern the fulfillment
of the President's peaceful plan on settlement of the situation in Donetsk and
Luhansk Oblasts. The first document is on "Special procedure of local
self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts", and the
second one is on "Prevention of criminal prosecution, involvement in
criminal, administrative prosecution and punishment of the individuals, who
took part in the events in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts". These documents
were adopted within the frames of the arrangements reached by the Contact Group
in Minsk on September 5. Both documents aim first of all to stabilize the
situation and give more powers to the local self-government structures in Luhansk
and Donetsk Oblasts. The documents also provide an opportunity to use Russian
as a language of communication, as well as other languages in these oblasts. In
addition, the documents stipulate local elections in the specified oblasts.

 

When
introducing these bills to the Parliament, the President of Ukraine reiterated
that they do not run counter to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and
independence of Ukraine. Therefore, these bills are first of all aimed at
maintaining the specified three provisions. This is a compelling stand.

 

What role does Moscow play in these
processes, e.g. in the Minsk agreement?  

 

Russia's representative, Ambassador
to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov was present at the Sept 5 signing of the Minsk
agreement on settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
Therefore, it is natural that Ukraine's leadership puts a particular focus on
the fact that it is impossible to settle the situation in two of our oblasts
without Russia's participation.

 

In late August the National Television and
Radio
Broadcasting Council of Ukraine enlarged the list of Russian
journalists, who are denied entry to Ukraine, to 49. The Ukrainian Interior
Ministry is also going to ban the entry for nearly 500 Russian statesmen, who
approved the annexation of Crimea. How efficient are such sanctions against Russia?
   

 

The
world community is actively discussing the current developments in Donetsk and
Luhansk. The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly asked the UN, NATO, the EU
and the US to assist them in solving this problem. And the sanctions against
Russia are an element of their assistance. I think Ukraine and the countries
that have applied the sanctions expect certain results from them.

 

A parade of sovereignties is being observed in Europe now: Scotland,
Catalonia, Flanders. In the post-Soviet space we have the examples of Karabakh,
Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Is Crimea a part of this trend or is
it a particular case?

 

Crimea
is Ukraine's territory, so, any referendum held there is illegal. De jure
Ukraine does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia. Crimea is part of Ukraine.
On Mar 27 2014 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution confirming
Ukraine's territorial integrity and refusing to recognize the change in the
status of Crimea and Sevastopol.

 

Won’t the AA/DCFTA signed and
ratified by Ukraine have a negative effect on the trade and economic relations
between Ukraine and the CIS countries, for instance, Armenia?

 

The trilateral meeting of the
Ukraine-Russia-European Union Commission took place on September 12.  The Commission issued a statement saying that
the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)
component of the EU-Ukraine agreement is put off for a year till 31 Dec 2015.
This demonstrates that the EU, Ukraine and Russia find mutually acceptable
solutions to prevent DCFTA from affecting Ukraine's cooperation with Russia and
other CIS countries. Though Armenia is going to join the Eurasian Union and
Ukraine has signed an Association Agreement with the European Union, we are
extremely interested in further development of the Armenian-Ukrainian relations
at the same level. My meetings in Armenia, particularly, the meetings with the
Armenian Minister of Economy have reconfirmed the confidence that despite the
agreements with different economic structures, Ukraine and Armenia remain
interested in development of economic relations. In 2013 the Armenian-Ukrainian
commodity turnover totaled about $223 mln, and our countries are certainly
interested in expansion of economic partnership.

 

Have you got any data for the first
half of 2014?

 

In the first half of 2014 the
commodity turnover amounted to $95.6 mln. It is less than in the same period of
2013. In the first half of 2014, Ukraine's exports to Armenia totaled $75
million. In late 2014 the Inter-Parliamentary Commission is planning to hold a
session in Yerevan to settle the economic problems that may arise during
Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. I think Armenia's EAEU
membership and Ukraine's Association Agreement with the EU will cause no
discrepancies between our countries. Kyiv perfectly understands the role of the
Armenian community in Ukraine (350-400 thsd citizens) and we realize that the
Armenian community has its own stand on a number of issues. We are very
grateful to the Armenian community for its stand on the latest developments in
our country. The fact that one of Ukraine’s citizens killed in Maidan was
Armenian once again demonstrates the Armenian community’s active role in the
development of the state. The state, in turn, will do its best to give the
Armenian community an opportunity to satisfy its needs in culture, history,
architecture, etc.