Paradoxically, the European Union may seek to be more generous to Ukraine now that the country has a new pro-Russian president, Western diplomatic sources told EurActiv.
However, such an opening may prove too late as, according to press reports, Yanukovich is considering a Russian offer to open negotiations on establishing a customs union with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus (EurActiv 18/02/10).
Tymoshenko abandons legal battle
Yanukovich is now set to be officially inaugurated as president on 25 February, after defeated presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko withdrew on Saturday from a legal battle in which she was accusing her opponent of massive electoral fraud.
On Sunday, Yanukovych said he is considering the candidacies of ex-national banker Sergei Tigipko, ex-parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Mykola Azarov, a leader of Yanukovich's Party of Regions, for the prime ministerial post.
Tymoshenko is still Ukraine's prime minister, but Yanukovich is trying to persuade the two parties in her coalition to switch camps and oust her from government.
On Sunday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called Yanukovich. The two men reportedly agreed that Yanukovich would visit Moscow in early March.
In interviews with Russian journalists last week, Yanukovich said he would not pursue NATO membership and would consider prolonging an agreement to base Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea.
A possible customs union with Russia is also expected to rank high on the agenda during Yanukovich's visit to Moscow.
Geopolitical choice
In principle, EU-Ukraine relations could have reached the point of establishing a customs union, but discussions were stalled as a result of internal in-fighting between Prime Minister Tymoshenko and outgoing president Viktor Yuschenko. US experts and politicians had been calling on the EU to be "more daring" and propose closer ties to Ukraine (EurActiv 29/05/09).
Officially, EU diplomats attribute the delay in negotiating an EU-Ukraine Association agreement to the troubled political climate in Ukraine in the last couple of years. In September 2008, under the French EU Presidency, the Union decided that the future legal basis of relations would be an Association Agreement, but the bloc made no commitment that Ukraine would join the European Union one day.
Speaking to EurActiv, Tom Spencer, a former MEP and executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, said that the Union could now be more generous and daring with Ukraine, because its new leader would not be pressing for EU accession.
However, diplomats declined to comment on whether Yanukovich would be told that he has to choose between a customs union with the EU and with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
"Let's first see what the new president will say in his new capacity," the ambassador of one large EU country said.
Ashton overstretched
Meanwhile, EU ministers are also expected to decide who to send to Yanukovich's inauguration.
According to her timetable, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton would normally preside over a meeting of defence ministers in Palma de Mallorca. Diplomats said this was the first example of how overstretched Ashton would be, as her duties combine those of former High Representative Javier Solana, External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU foreign ministers.
The press quoted a Party of Regions official as saying on Sunday that the presidents of several countries, including Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, had confirmed they would attend alongside Ashton.
