Fule lauds Ukraine’s association pact progress, stresses other requirements

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule met on August
27 in Brussels with Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Chair
Andriy Kliuyev, who is responsible for ensuring the Ukrainian government
fulfills EU requirements for signing the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
Their meeting was planned for one hour, but extended to three hours, the
Kommernsant-Ukrayina newspaper reported, citing an anonymous source.

Fule lauded the Ukrainians for fulfilling several
requirements, including the government submitting its prosecutor general law
for review by the Venice Commission and organizing roundtables to discuss the
election law, Kommersant reported. “Also in September constitutional amendments
are being planned for the judiciary,” Kliuyev said. “A legislative package is
being prepared for complex reforms to all organs of the law enforcement system.
So as you see, we are doing everything possible so that the Association
Agreement is signed in the fall.”

Yet Fule also said the EU doesn’t intend to change its
requirements put forth to Ukraine’s leadership. “We didn’t even discuss the
possibility of disavowing any requirements or criteria of signing the
Association Agreement,” he said, adding a specific reference to Tymoshenko’s
release. The EU still opposes Ukraine’s auto disposal fee adopted this year,
the removal of which he identified as a key requirement.

Fule said he will meet with opposition leaders on
August 29 to urge them to support the government’s efforts to sign the
agreement. Meanwhile, the opposition leaders said they will raise their
concerns the government hasn’t done enough for the association agreement, the
newspaper reported.

Zenon Zawada: Yesterday’s events in Brussels offer
further evidence that the Yanukovych administration is committed to signing the
Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. Ukrainian leaders are spending more time with
EU leaders to iron out their positions, while reportedly limiting their time
with the Russian leadership, with which they’ve fallen into conflict. Most
notably, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych earmarked 15 minutes for a
meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Kyiv on July
27 (though some media reports said they spoke to each other while attending
ceremonies).

Fule is maintaining a tough negotiating position
regarding EU requirements, but we expect significant compromises from the EU,
even when it comes to the demand that the Yanukovych administration arrange for
the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Recent statements by
various EU officials indicate that the EU will be willing to bend significantly
in order to get the agreement signed.