EU verwelkomt 'pragmatische' president van Oekraïne (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has urged Ukraine's new leader, Viktor Yanukovych, to sort out the country's political and financial mess, while putting talk of EU accession on the back-burner.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels on Monday (1 March) said he was "delighted" that Mr Yanukovych chose to make the EU capital his first post-election foreign trip, ahead of a visit to Moscow at the end of the week.
"You are among friends of Ukraine," the commission chief said.
He gave a nod to Ukraine's stated ambition to one day join the union: "I welcome this pragmatism and realism [as voiced by Mr Yanukovych in their meeting], but it is not realism and pragmatism without some European aspirations," he said.
He gave away nothing new in terms of a formal recognition of Ukraine's EU accession perspective or a timetable for a visa-free travel deal, however.
The EU's drive to sign an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and free trade deal in the next year is the union's "most far-reaching offer," Mr Barroso said. "Regarding the prospects of accession, we have always stated that instead of discussing possible dates ...it is much more important now to focus on reforms that are needed to bring Ukraine closer to Europe and de facto integrated in our economic system."
The two sides agreed that if Ukraine meets International Monetary Fund criteria on economic reform, the commission will "unlock" an extra €500 million in financial aid.
For his part, the Ukrainian President said he would press ahead with the EU free trade deal and would respect a March 2009 international agreement to modernise the country's gas sector.
Post-election remarks by Mr Yanukovych's aides had indicated that he may take Ukraine into a customs union with Russia and invite Russia's Gazprom to take control of gas pipelines, scuppering the EU trade and gas pacts.
But in contrast to his Russia-hostile predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, who urged the EU to make promises on accession at almost every high-level meeting, Mr Yanukovych instead pledged to rebuild relations with Moscow and sounded lukewarm on enlargement.
"When the time comes [to talk about accession], we will see. Today we cannot stress the time frame. We can only say that we are ready to solve certain pilot projects, projects in specific areas of our relations," he said.
Mr Yanukovych's election victory last month signaled a symbolic reversal of the country's 2004 Orange Revolution, which ousted him from power amid allegations of election fraud.
The taciturn former lorry driver, who has served time in prison for crimes including sexual assault, is keen to dispel his reputation as a Kremlin stooge or as a puppet in the hands of Ukraine's oligarchs, such as fellow political party member and the country's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.
His business backers are equally keen for the new leader to press ahead with practical EU-oriented reforms, while leaving talk of geopolitical allegiance to one side, however.
Asked by EUobserver on Monday what EU officials should be urging Mr Yanukovych to do to help put the country back on its feet, Yuriy Ryzenkhov, the chief operating officer of Akhemtov energy firm Dtek, said: "To bring about political stability, to make reforms - business will do the rest."