Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says that European Union's Eastern Partnership initiative is not an alternative to Ukraine's eurointegral aspirations. He made a statement to this effect in Prague Tuesday, UKRINFORM reported.
“Ukraine sees in this dialogue, the one within the framework of Eastern Partnership, no alternative to the integration strivings we are developing through conclusion of the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union,” Yushchenko said.
“We do not wish the dialogue of integration to be replaced with another form, not aimed at Ukraine's membership of the EU,” the President emphasized.
At the same time, he noted, when the European Commission wishes to hold a specific dialogue with a number of Eastern European countries, “not a single initiative for a strengthening of this dialogue is unnecessary.” In Yushchenko's words, he implied the formation of the initiative for contacts of the EU with six countries of Eastern Europe in five vital areas, including state border management, energy saving, transit and energy policy. “Each of these directions is active, correct and rational. And no dialogue will impede,” he noted.
