The European perspective of Ukraine depends on carrying out comprehensive reforms
01 December 2014 News
Today, we, as citizens of the EU, must morally consolidate ourselves, while we diversify our energy sources. This is also the desired path for Ukraine, said Minister Daniel Mitov at the opening of the conference "Ukraine between Russia and the EU," organized by the Youth Conservative Club and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
According to Minister Mitov, it is an illusion to believe that the problems facing Ukraine today are of a private and local nature. All nations share the same desire for freedom and sovereignty, and the strive for a decent life and the right to choose is our common human denominator.
Ukraine is of a key significance for the implementation of the EU’s Eastern Partnership Policy, while the country itself demonstrates a desire for gradual political association and economic integration with the EU, the Foreign Minister said. Ukraine’s European perspective, however, depends on carrying out comprehensive reforms. The will for conducting pro-European policy has already been clearly demonstrated by the efforts of the Ukrainian people in 2014. Now it is time for the Ukrainian officials to meet those expectations with specific results, added Daniel Mitov.
Despite the enhanced interaction between the EU and Ukraine, the country continues to be extremely important for Russia as a source of economic, demographic and geopolitical resource. Without Ukraine, the implementation of the Eurasian Union would compromise its functionality and legitimacy, the Foreign Minister said. In order to prevent such a development, Moscow is ready to use various means and resorting to instruments from the economic and energy arsenal for exerting geopolitical pressure on Ukraine is an example of this, he commented.
According to Minister Mitov, the situation in Ukraine, which has its bright political connotation to the EU, beyond the economic one, raises the question of the need to redefine the dialogue between the Union and Russia. Building a unified and stable Europe has its moral and value-based dimensions, he said.
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