Experts: Yalta summit approaches Ukraine to the EU

The Yalta European Strategy 9th meeting recorded once again the positions of two parties on major issues of cooperation, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies Vitaly Kulik told ForUm.

"It is interesting that the main participants of the meeting from the EU including Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, EU Commissioner Stefan Füle and head of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok have very different perceptions of the stage of relations between Ukraine and the EU. Bildt recently noted on his blog that the European integration of Ukraine was suspended, and Fule, on the contrary, believes that it is not necessary to freeze relations at this stage," the expert said.

Kulik reminded that general resolution of the European politicians states that the dialogue "Ukraine-EU" should not be interrupted. "Former NATO General Secretary Javier Solana also does not support the freezing of relations between Kyiv and Brussels," he stressed.

Summarizing the overall results of the summit, the expert noted that he recorded once again the positions of two parties on major issues of cooperation. "Ukraine, as before, insists on its interest in integration, Europe requires something in return. It is hard to say how the EU will react to the results of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine. If recognition is rather quiet and fast, it will allow to rely on further constructive dialogue with the EU," he summed up.

Head of the Institute of Ukrainian politics Kost Bondarenko is sure that the Yalta meetings are extremely important for Ukraine and its international image.

According to Bondarenko, such meetings are very important because they provide an opportunity to ask some questions to find real moments in the dialogue between Ukraine and other countries. "It means that such events approach our country to the EU making it more open and understandable," he said.