Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is standing his ground on refusing to sign what would have been a historic trade deal with the European Union. At the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Friday, E.U. nations had hoped that he might be swayed at the eleventh hour, but he resisted — despite the protests of thousands of pro-E.U. Ukrainians back home in Kiev.
The disappointment was palpable among the E.U. negotiators, some of whom openly pointed the finger of blame at Russia, which has been piling pressure on the former Soviet republic not to sign the association pact. “We may not give in to external pressure, not least from Russia,” said E.U. President Herman Van Rompuy.
Moscow wants to keep the neighboring state, which has rich mineral resources, in its own economic sphere of influence, and has been pushing Kiev to sign up to a Eurasian customs union instead. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the E.U. of “blackmail” in its attempts to draw Ukraine closer to the West.
E.U. leaders insisted that the door was not closed to Ukraine signing in the future, and Yanukovych has not ruled this out, but he said his country needed a greater fiscal package to facilitate the economic transition. The E.U. had offered to lend it 600 million euros ($800 million), but Yanukovych has insisted Ukraine needs at least 20 billion euros a year. “For three years in succession they [E.U. leaders] have shown this candy in pretty wrapping to us,” he said. “We don’t have to be humiliated like this.”
The Ukrainian government is dependent on Russia for its gas supplies, something Moscow has exploited in the past by restricting the taps to exert political pressure. Yanukovych has cited the high price his country pays for Russian gas as a source of its economic difficulties. In response, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has offered to provide it with natural gas from Europe in the future.
The Ukrainian leader was also unhappy about a condition of the deal stipulated by the E.U. – that he address the issue of “selective justice” in Ukraine. Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is currently incarcerated for what the West believes are political reasons, and Yanukovych has resisted calls to release her for medical treatment in Germany. The BBC reported him as saying, “What does the European Union have to do with this? Is the European Union a court?”
The summit, billed as the 3rd Eastern Partnership Summit, has had a more positive outcome for Georgia and Moldova, both of which initialed the accord. Another ex-Soviet state, Azerbaijan, signed an agreement to simplify visa procedures.
[Reuters]
[BBC]