Failure to sign Association Agreement would be collapse for EU, Kozhara says

Ukrainian foreign minister Leonid Kozhara warned Brussels against a failure to sign the Association Agreement with Kyiv, as it could mean a serious geopolitical collapse to the European Union's foreign policy.

He made this statement at a meeting of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels on Monday. "A failure to sign the Association Agreement will mean a serious geopolitical collapse to the European Union's foreign policy. I don't have even the slightest doubt about this. It will also have a very negative impact on other Eastern partners. The EU is not interested in playing short-term policy in these issues," Kozhara said.

He also noted that those who think that by refusing to sign the Association Agreement the EU could teach Ukraine a lesson are wrong. "I don't think that such a step may strengthen Ukrainian democracy and institutional opportunities. The Association Agreement is a strategic issue. We know what should be done and what will be done for Ukrainian people that deserve a better future. We will move forward and I believe that we will do this together with the European Parliament," the minister said, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

Kozhara also said that despite "a different vision of the domestic agenda, the opposition and the government share the understanding of the importance of signing the agreement this year." "We have intensified our efforts for the fulfillment of the agenda approved at the EU-Ukraine Summit in February," Kozhara said.