Ukraine not ready to sign Association Agreement, Sikorski says

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on June 24 in Luxembourg that the Ukrainian government isn’t ready to sign the Association Agreement. The EU leadership is closely monitoring the government’s actions and has noticed that it’s not conducting the necessary reforms at present, he said. EU leaders are concerned that the government won’t approve the necessary legislation in time for the Eastern Partnership summit at the end of November in Vilnius. He called on the government to approve legislation creating an election code of laws, reforming state prosecution and preventing selective justice. During a visit last month to Kyiv, EU diplomats told Ukrainian officials that “even approving laws at the last minute isn’t enough,” he said. “We – the mission, the parliament, the member-states, the Commission – should evaluate Ukraine, which takes weeks.” He called on the Ukrainian government to implement the necessary legislative reforms by the end of the summer. “If it doesn’t fulfill the conditions in time, we’ll have a Plan B,” he said.