10 May 2011
Mrs Irena Degutienë, Speaker of the Seimas, states that in
the absence of the consensus between the European Union Member States on
Ukraine’s membership of the EU, it is appropriate to do what is possible today:
to concentrate on the enlargement of the EU free trade area and the
establishment of the visa-free regime between the EU and Ukraine. This was the
statement made by the Speaker of the Seimas, who participated in the
extraordinary sitting of the Presidium of the trilateral Parliamentary Assembly
of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg,
France.
The Speaker of the Seimas admitted that Ukraine constantly
encountered obstacles on its way to the European Union, but it was essential
not only to consider the present but also to think about the prospects. “Therefore
we must make it clear again: the construction
of a joint European security home cannot be completed until Ukraine is a full Member
State of the European Union”, Mrs Degutienë
said.
The Speaker of the Seimas encouraged all the sides to focus on the enlargement
of the EU free trade area and the establishment of the visa-free regime between
the EU and Ukraine. “The European Union must open its market as wide as possible.
I want to emphasise, however, that this partial opening can in no way be
understood as an alternative for Ukraine’s membership of the European Union but
rather as an interim stop on the consistent way to the fully-fledged membership
of the Community”, Mrs Degutienë stated and welcomed a substantial progress
noticed recently in the negotiations on the EU-Ukraine free trade agreement.
Mrs Degutienë called for such an EU-Ukraine free trade agreement,
which would be the first EU free trade agreement in the Eastern neighbourhood
providing for the most ambitious free trade regime possible. “These are far
from being only economic solutions because in the long run the EU-Ukraine
agreement on free mutual trade could become Ukraine’s interim stop towards the
fully-fledged membership of the European Union. On the other hand, our
principles and strategies necessitate us to respond to the new challenges,
which are arising continually. We are closely following the situation evolving
due to Russia’s pressure on Ukraine to join the Customs Union between Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan. To be sure, this pressure turned into an external
factor highly influencing the negotiations between the European Union and
Ukraine”, Mrs Degutienë asserted.
The Speaker of the Seimas had no doubt that Ukraine’s accession to
this Customs Union would not only make Ukraine’s free trade agreement with the
EU impossible but also result in considerable setbacks for Ukraine at the World
Trade Organisation (WTO).
„We constantly come across the news about Russia’s intentions to offer
gas concessions to Ukraine if the latter joins the Customs Union and rejects
the free trade agreement with the European Union. Russia is asserting that it
would be best to negotiate the free trade agreement “together” with the Customs
Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan as well as Ukraine as a potential
member of this Union on the one side and the EU on the other. It is obvious
that playing this geopolitical game, Russia has already pulled out its trump
card – gas price policy. That is the ordeal that Ukraine has to go through”, Mrs
Degutienë claimed.
The Speaker of the Seimas, however, underscored her trust in the
firm pronouncements made by the Ukrainian leadership that Ukraine’s priorities
remained the same despite Russia’s offers and that Ukraine would seek to complete
the negotiations on the free trade agreement with the EU this year.
„It is important for us all that it becomes a reality and preferably
as soon as possible. All the more so that we all understand that the sooner the
EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement happens, the faster the geopolitical issue of
the Customs Union disappears. The European Union must realise this and take
action against the closing of the window of opportunity for Ukraine”, Mrs Degutienë
said.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas
Juozas Ruzgys, Adviser to Speaker of the Seimas, Tel: (+370 5 ) 239
602; 698 42073
