EU summit pledges €1.8bn to Ukraine but Russia remains elephant in room.
European leaders in Riga accused of expecting Eastern Partnership
countries to bring in reforms for little in return while Kremlin offers
‘cash with fewer strings’
European leaders pledged Ukraine
€1.8bn (£1.3bn) and the vague prospect of visa-free travel at an EU
summit in Riga where the Kremlin’s newly assertive policy in eastern
Europe was the elephant in the room.
While David Cameron was in the Latvian capital to discuss Britain’s demands ahead of a referendum on EU membership, the main topic of the broader summit was the Eastern Partnership, a programme set up in 2009 to bring six post-Soviet countries into Europe’s orbit and prise them away from Russia.
A vaguely worded statement affirmed the “high importance” of the partnership, but in reality the Riga summit showed just how different the six countries are. Eventual EU membership has never been an overt part of the partnership, and in the intervening years since it was launched, Azerbaijan has cooled on EU integration while Belarus and Armenia have signed up to Vladimir Putin’s rival Eurasian union project.
The Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, said: “This summit takes place in a completely different environment to previous ones.”
There had been wrangling over the final text of the summit statement, with Belarus and Armenia not willing to sign up to a statement condemning the “annexation” of Crimea by Russia, and some European nations uneasy about liberalised visa regimes for Georgia and Ukraine.
Three of the six nations – Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine – are still signed up to the European integration project. Most notable is the new pro-western Ukrainian administration of President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power after his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following protests sparked by his refusal to sign an EU free trade agreement.
“During these 18 months, the Ukrainian people … made a revolution of dignity, and paid a very high price for their European choice,” said Poroshenko after the talks.
EU and Ukrainian officials signed the €1.8bn loan agreement to help with the ailing Ukrainian economy, which requires Ukraine to make a number of structural and anti-corruption reforms. But there were only the most carefully couched promises on visa liberalisation for Ukraine and Georgia, a key carrot for the two countries, and no mention at all of any future membership prospects.
“Georgia and Ukraine might enjoy a visa-free regime next year,” said the Latvian prime minister, Laimdota Straujuma, but it would depend on them “actively working to meet all the commitments to receive a positive opinion”.
One EU official said the problem was that the alliance demands “the expectation of serious reforms, but little concrete in response”, while Russia offers “cash with no strings attached when it comes to domestic policy, only foreign policy”.
Giga Bokeria, an official from Georgia’s opposition United National Movement, said: “I think the decision not to allow a roadmap for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to become EU members at some point, even far in the future, is a fundamental geopolitical mistake. This would stimulate internal reforms and make it less easy for Russia to make counter-offers.”
theguardian.
While David Cameron was in the Latvian capital to discuss Britain’s demands ahead of a referendum on EU membership, the main topic of the broader summit was the Eastern Partnership, a programme set up in 2009 to bring six post-Soviet countries into Europe’s orbit and prise them away from Russia.
A vaguely worded statement affirmed the “high importance” of the partnership, but in reality the Riga summit showed just how different the six countries are. Eventual EU membership has never been an overt part of the partnership, and in the intervening years since it was launched, Azerbaijan has cooled on EU integration while Belarus and Armenia have signed up to Vladimir Putin’s rival Eurasian union project.
The Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, said: “This summit takes place in a completely different environment to previous ones.”
There had been wrangling over the final text of the summit statement, with Belarus and Armenia not willing to sign up to a statement condemning the “annexation” of Crimea by Russia, and some European nations uneasy about liberalised visa regimes for Georgia and Ukraine.
Three of the six nations – Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine – are still signed up to the European integration project. Most notable is the new pro-western Ukrainian administration of President Petro Poroshenko, who came to power after his predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following protests sparked by his refusal to sign an EU free trade agreement.
“During these 18 months, the Ukrainian people … made a revolution of dignity, and paid a very high price for their European choice,” said Poroshenko after the talks.
EU and Ukrainian officials signed the €1.8bn loan agreement to help with the ailing Ukrainian economy, which requires Ukraine to make a number of structural and anti-corruption reforms. But there were only the most carefully couched promises on visa liberalisation for Ukraine and Georgia, a key carrot for the two countries, and no mention at all of any future membership prospects.
“Georgia and Ukraine might enjoy a visa-free regime next year,” said the Latvian prime minister, Laimdota Straujuma, but it would depend on them “actively working to meet all the commitments to receive a positive opinion”.
One EU official said the problem was that the alliance demands “the expectation of serious reforms, but little concrete in response”, while Russia offers “cash with no strings attached when it comes to domestic policy, only foreign policy”.
Giga Bokeria, an official from Georgia’s opposition United National Movement, said: “I think the decision not to allow a roadmap for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to become EU members at some point, even far in the future, is a fundamental geopolitical mistake. This would stimulate internal reforms and make it less easy for Russia to make counter-offers.”
theguardian.
