Tag: DCFTA

The Ukrainian parliament's speaker said yesterday (9 September) that MPs would pass the laws required by Brussels as a pre-condition for concluding an EU pact in time for November's Vilnius Summit, paving the way for the signature of a landmark association agreement with the European Union. 

Armenia will join a customs union led by its former Soviet master Russia, the country’s President Serzh Sargsyan said yesterday (3 September), a move incompatible with the free trade agreement the EU is preparing with Yerevan.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the EU, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, said the signature of an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which could take place in November, would be similar in magnitude for his country to the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany.

The planned sign-off of a wide-ranging EU-Ukraine Association Agreement at the November Eastern Partnership summit is "clearly" at risk, according to the Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski. He urged Ukrainian authorities to “speed up” reforms and fulfil the EU's conditions by the end of summer, and not to wait until the last moment.

The EU said it wants to see Ukraine take “determined action" and make "tangible progress” on human rights issues within two months, including on the situation of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Moscow, which recently slammed Kyiv with a huge gas bill, said Monday (4 February) that an arrangement could be found. A Russian diplomat explained that the deal would not necessarily require Ukraine to join Moscow's proposed Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. 

The European Commission announced today (20 December) that an EU-Ukraine summit would be held on 25 February, ending a year of uncertainty about the timing of the next leadership meeting.

The European Commission is concerned about the many “stumbling blocks” which prevent it from proposing member states to sign the Association agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Ukraine, Commissioner Karel De Gucht said yesterday (24 September), in an interview with EurActiv.

Leaders gathered at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum last weekend conveyed the message that Ukraine was at a turning point and had to make strategic choices between becoming anchored to the European Union or Russia’s economic and political sphere.