Ukraine-EU Association Agreement signed on March 21

The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement was signed in Brussels on March 21 by the EU leadership, the representatives of 28 EU member-states and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The diplomats also signed a conclusive act that serves as a surrogate for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, which will be revised. The agreement’s trade portion will be signed informally “within a half-year,” requiring the approval of all 28 EU member states, said Ukraine’s Economy Minister Pavlo Sheremeta.

As part of the agreement, the EU made a generous concession in agreeing to open its market to Ukrainian producers until November, when the Free Trade Area is expected to be completed. Meanwhile, the agreement stipulates that the Ukrainian government’s work on adopting the agreement’s political institutions must begin immediately.

Zenon Zawada: The signing of the Association Agreement would have been cause for celebration in November, when former President Viktor Yanukovych had the chance but declined. This time around, it was bittersweet, coming at a huge cost to Ukraine: the annexation of Crimea, a devastated economy and the loss of more than a hundred lives in the EuroMaidan protest movement. Unfortunately, we expect Russia to continue to work to undermine not only the Association Agreement, but the integrity of the Ukrainian state altogether. These two challenges will either make or break the Ukrainian government.