- News>
- World
EU demands reforms in Ukraine, dangles membership carrot
Yalta (Ukraine), Oct 08: The European Union yesterday held out the prospect that Ukraine could join the bloc one day but said Kiev had to undertake substantial political and economic reforms before this becomes reality, during an EU-Ukraine summit in the Crimea.
Yalta (Ukraine), Oct 08: The European Union yesterday held out the prospect that Ukraine could join the bloc one day but said Kiev had to undertake substantial
political and economic reforms before this becomes reality, during an EU-Ukraine summit in the Crimea.
Addressing the last such gathering before EU expansion next year sees EU membership climb from 15 to 25 countries, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that Ukraine "shared the values of European civilisation" and had all the trappings of "one day becoming a member of the EU."
But the Prime Minister, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said he wanted "Ukraine to speed up its political, economic and judicial reforms" to that it could join the World Trade Organization and become a market economy. Berlusconi, in the Crimea along with EU heavyweights foreign policy chief Javier Solana and European Commission President Romano Prodi, said he had held "frank and constructive" talks with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and other top government officials.
The change to a market economy and WTO membership were "necessary steps" towards EU membership, Berlusconi said, while refusing to be drawn on a possible date for the former Soviet Republic to join. Prodi hailed the economic progress Ukraine had already made in recent years, which he said meant the country of 48 million people could soon obtain the status of a market economy, facilitating exports.
"We did not come to a complete understanding on all the issues," Kuchma said, who has stated he believes it will be decades before Ukraine joins the EU.
Bureau Report
But the Prime Minister, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said he wanted "Ukraine to speed up its political, economic and judicial reforms" to that it could join the World Trade Organization and become a market economy. Berlusconi, in the Crimea along with EU heavyweights foreign policy chief Javier Solana and European Commission President Romano Prodi, said he had held "frank and constructive" talks with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and other top government officials.
The change to a market economy and WTO membership were "necessary steps" towards EU membership, Berlusconi said, while refusing to be drawn on a possible date for the former Soviet Republic to join. Prodi hailed the economic progress Ukraine had already made in recent years, which he said meant the country of 48 million people could soon obtain the status of a market economy, facilitating exports.
"We did not come to a complete understanding on all the issues," Kuchma said, who has stated he believes it will be decades before Ukraine joins the EU.
Bureau Report