President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declares that Ukraine seeks full membership in the European Union.
“Eastern Partnership shouldn’t limit the ambitions of its partners. For some, political dialogue or strategic partnership with EU is enough, some seek integration with the common market on the basis of 4 freedoms, but Ukraine seeks full membership of the EU,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
On June 18, the Eastern Partnership summit is held in video mode with the participation of the EU leadership, the heads of the Eastern Partnership states and the heads of all EU member states.
According to the presidential press service, the head of state reminded that from the beginning the goal of the initiative was to build the EU community with partners who share European values and principles. At the same time, the benefits of such an association should be enjoyed by all citizens of the countries – participants.
The president of Ukraine expressed confidence in the possibility of jointly overcoming the challenges of today, in particular the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, by deepening integration and increasing coordination between countries, rather than by political self-isolation and protectionism.
“This meeting is a great opportunity to discuss further cooperation to overcome the current crisis and overcome similar challenges in the future. We are facing very difficult tasks: to protect the lives and health of citizens, to restore people-to-people and business contacts, to bring the economy out of the crisis trajectory,” the president said.
The president also thanked the European Union for its support, in particular for the new EUR 1.2 billion macro-financial assistance program, which is important and timely.
In addition, according to Zelensky, Ukraine counts on cooperation with the EU in the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is produced.
The head of state noted that Ukraine, for its part, also supported European partners. In particular, Ukrainian medics came to the aid of Italian colleagues, and Ukrainian planes delivered medical supplies to many EU countries.
“I am sure that the slogan Stronger Together is more relevant today than ever,” the president of Ukraine said.
Some 46.1% of Ukrainians believe that the country should strive to join the European Union, 13.1% in the Eurasian Economic Union, while 28.3% do not want Ukraine to join any economic alliances.
Those are the results of a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from April 26 to April 30 and presented at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Survey results show 41.9% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should strive to be a NATO member, 34.7% – a neutral state and 12% – a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
If offered U.S. or EU citizenship, 27.1% said they would leave the country to live there, while 65.1% would remain in Ukraine. Only 6.3% said they would leave for Russia. Some 86.3% said they would refuse to relocate to Russia. Offered a “bonus” of $100,000, 11.2% of respondents said they would move there.
The KIIS survey was conducted from April 26 to April 30, 2020 using the CATI method (computer-assisted telephone interviews) based on a random selection of mobile phone numbers. Some 1,500 interviews were included in the survey.
The sample is representative of the adult population of Ukraine (aged 18 years and older). It does not include Russia-occupied areas in Donbas and Crimea. The statistical error of the sample (with a probability of 0.95 and without taking into account the design effect) does not exceed 2.6% for indicators close to 50%, 2.2% for indicators close to 25%, 1.7% for indicators close to 10% and 1.1% – for indicators close to 5%.
Ukraine has strengthened its position in the EU organic market and, according to the results of 2019, took the second place out of 123 countries exporting organic food to the EU, having risen two positions compared to the previous year, OrganicInfo portal has reported, citing the European Commission’s annual report titled “EU Imports of Organic Agri-Food Products: Key Developments in 2019.”
According to the report, in 2019, 3.24 million tonnes of organic agri-food products were imported into the EU, more than 10% of which came from Ukraine. According to the results of last year, Ukrainian exports to the EU increased by 27%, to 337,860 tonnes. Mostly Ukraine supplied the EU with cereals (including wheat, excluding rice) with 76.9% of cereals were Ukrainian origin, wheat (31.8%), oilseeds (except soy, 18.2%), soy (13%), and fruits (11%). Ukraine is also among the largest exporters of oilcake, fruit juices and vegetables, which are key export products.
OrganicInfo said that in 2018, Ukraine ranked fourth in terms of organic exports to the EU, being behind China, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
Sixty-six checkpoints on Ukraine’s border with Moldova and EU member states reopened at 0:01 a.m. on May 29 on government orders, the Ukrainian State Border Service said in a statement on Friday. The neighbors were informed about the reopening of the border checkpoints, it said.
Trans-border traffic will fully restore after neighbors reopen checkpoints in their territories, the statement said.
The agency said it would rapidly inform the public about the resumption of international travel on its website, including by means of the interactive map.
The agency said, however, that Ukraine still had quarantine restrictions on foreign travelers.
The Council of the European Union has approved a proposal of the European Commission to provide EUR 1.2 billion of micro-financial assistance to help Ukraine to cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The respective decision was taken on May 20 under the written procedure during sitting of the EU Council.
It is expected that after this Kyiv and Brussels will begin negotiations regarding the future Memorandum, which should specify the conditions for the allocation of the second tranche. Further, the Memorandum should be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, after which Ukraine will receive the first tranche in the amount of EUR 600 million, which is unconditional. The horizontal condition for obtaining macro-financial assistance is mandatory cooperation with the IMF.
On May 15, European Parliament backed the commission’s proposal.
The macroeconomic aid of EUR 1.2 billion the European Commission has decided to propose to Ukraine will be disbursed at two installments, Ukraine’s envoy to the EU Mykola Tochytsky told Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels on Wednesday.
The first EUR 600 million will be allocated unconditionally, immediately after adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, and the other EUR 600 million will be extended under some specific conditions, which the EU and Kyiv will begin negotiating in the near future, Tochytsky said in commenting on the European Commission’s decision to distribute EUR 1.2 billion in emergency macro-financial assistance to Ukraine to limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The first tranche of EUR 600 million will be provided unconditionally and the second upon Ukraine’s compliance with criteria to be agreed upon with Kyiv within the next few months,” he said.
Asked what these criteria could be, Tochytsky pointed out that no specific talks on the matter have been started so far, but, judging by the criteria set for other similar agreements concluded earlier between Kyiv and Brussels, these could be some measures related to public finance administration, anti-corruption efforts, taxation, labor and social protection, business climate, customs, and so on.
“Apart from the EU, there is no other association of countries that could provide a similar amount of assistance not only to its members but also to other partners. We are grateful to our European partners for their extremely timely and significant support for our economy, business and population,” he said.
In procedural terms, the provision of this EUR 1.2 billion emergency macro-financial assistance by the European Commission is “only the beginning,” as it has yet to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, Tochytsky said. “Simultaneously, negotiations will proceed on signing a relevant memorandum between Ukraine and the EU, which will be subject to ratification by the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada after its signature. In other words, this is a lengthy process,” he said.
The European Union provides macro-financial assistance only to its partners that successfully cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tochytsky said. “This is a general condition. Therefore, the disbursement of the last, the fourth, tranche of the fourth macro-financial assistance program, which was endorsed back in September 2018, as well as the second tranche of the present emergency macro-financial assistance, depends on the passage by the parliament of the so-called banking bill in an edition agreed upon with the IMF,” he said.
Considering this, the Ukrainian diplomat said he expected that the fourth installment of EUR 500 million will be disbursed in the first half and the EUR 600 million of the emergency assistance in the second half of the year.
Apart from this, the EU decided on April 8 to offer Ukraine an aid package in the amount of EUR 190 million, Tochytsky said. “These resources, in particular, will be allotted for helping the people living in the areas that suffered from Russian aggression in the eastern part of the country. This includes EUR 30 million as so-called technical assistance for the Ukrainian healthcare system, which implies not only the procurement of the necessary equipment and supplies but also for upgrading [the medical personnel’s] qualification and facilitating the Health Ministry’s legislative work,” he said.
Another EUR 45 million is to be spent on a program of support for small and medium-sized businesses and the already existing programs, and some part of this sum will also be offered as easy loans, including those denominated in hryvnias, Tochytsky said.
This assistance also includes EUR 10 million for a state administration support program, and some funds will also be provided to non-governmental organizations, he said.
As another example of EU’s financial assistance to Ukraine, Tochytsky mentioned the allocation of EUR 13 million of humanitarian aid disbursed on April 16. “This tranche will be spent not only on fighting coronavirus but also on other needs, such as, for example, water supply restoration,” he said.
