EU to sign portion of Association Agreement before May 25

The EU will sign the political portion of the Association Agreement with the Ukrainian government before the May 25 presidential elections, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced on March 6. The agreement’s free trade portion will be signed after the president is elected and new government is formed, he said.

Zenon Zawada: The EU’s announcement is rather amusing because leading up to the Vilnius summit in November, several Ukrainian politicians proposed signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area while postponing the political portion. The proposal was rejected by the EU, which has now suggested the reverse. Given these events, it’s clear the EU is using the Association Agreement as a buffer against Russian advances into Ukraine. We support the signing of both portions of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement because it offers the best hope for Ukraine’s political and economic long-term development into a sustainable state.