LONDON: Russia was on the receiving end of strong rebuke from European political heavyweights after it prevailed over Ukraine in scuttling the idea of a unified Eastern Europe. Leaders of the 28-nation bloc failed to convince Ukraine to defy Russian pressure and enter the European Union. A years-long bid by the EU to enrol Ukraine failed at the EU Eastern partnership summit that ended in Vilnius on Friday. It was to be the highlight of the Summit. Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich refused to sign the landmark deal afraid of upsetting Moscow which was playing hard ball politics over the integration of former Soviet Union controlled countries. German chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia must remember that the cold war was over. Merkel said The more post-Soviet countries come closer to Europe, the more Moscow sees it as distancing themselves from Russia. The EU and Germany have to talk to Russia. The cold War is over. She added These countries must and should decide for themselves on EU integration. We need Russia as we import their gas. But we must overcome the last relics of the cold War. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said the status quo had not changed. Ukraine wasnt ready to go further on integration with the European Union at this stage. Asked if she was disappointed, she added Me? No. I think its the Ukrainian people who should be disappointed. She added I think todays Ukrainian leadership has chosen a way which is going nowhere. This is the decision of current Ukrainian leadership to stop progress in their country. Polands foreign minister, Radek Sikorski too echoed Merkels views and said the EU will not enter a bidding war with Russia on Ukraine. According to Sikorski, the EU is more attractive in civilizational and economic terms. According to Grybauskaite, Ukraine used pressure from Russia as an excuse to scuttle the partnership. Grybauskaite, who currently chairs the EU presidency used the example of Lithuanias path to EU and said It is not about pressures. It is about whether a country is willing to accept and react to the pressure. Lithuania for 20 years was receiving such kind of pressures from Russia. Even an economic blockade at the beginning of the 1990s for eight months, when we had no heat, no hot water, during the winter. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said at the end of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius We have to set aside short term considerations and we have to overcome pressure from abroad. This is a time of courage, this is a time of decisions. He said we had such a high level of participation of leaders from both the European Union and the Eastern partner countries. This sends a strong message on the importance we attach to the Eastern Partnership, our commitment and shared ownership. Resolving potential conflicts, building trust and nurturing good neighbourly relations is essential to peace, to economic and social development and cooperation in the region. Unfortunately, we did not manage on this occasion to sign the Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Ukraine and to initialise a similar agreement with Armenia. The European Unions position remains clear. The offer of signing the most ambitious agreement the European Union has ever offered to a non-Member State is still on the table. We stand ready to sign with Ukraine once the benchmarks put forward by the European Union are met and we are really close. We may not miss this rendezvous with history later on. The big three from EU - German chancellor Merkel, British prime minister David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande descended on Vilnius to portray an unified Europe.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 16:25:39 +0000
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