EU to Present Framework for Talks on Ukraine's Accession by March 12

Kyiv is expecting the European Commission to present a negotiating framework for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union no later than March 12, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration told Ukrainian media, speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on sexual violence.

“No later than March 12, we expect the European Commission to present the negotiating framework and evaluate its progress in reforms. So, on March 19 (at an EU leaders’ summit), EU countries could adopt the decision. We hope that there will be no delays,” Ukrinform quotes Olha Stefanishyna saying in an article published Monday.

Stefanishyna said that there have been “sad cases” when internal problems in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, have led to appeals. As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, this presumably referred to an alleged letter from former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

According to a Feb. 29 Ukrainska Pravda report, Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy had shared a letter that allegedly came from Poroshenko, in which the ex-president had said that opposition parliamentarians have not been permitted to travel abroad. In the letter, Poroshenko asks Verhelyi to address the issue with the European Commission.

“This practice is not ideal, and I still do not know what impact it will have,” Stefanishyna is quoted. “I hope that when we say we are all on the same page regarding strategic matters, this will be believed even if there are some exceptions.”

Other Topics of Interest

Azerbaijan-Brokered Deal to Keep Gas Flowing to EU via Ukraine Fails

This development appears to end hopes that gas transiting via Ukraine could continue to flow after Dec. 31, when a long-term gas transit contract between Moscow and Kyiv ends.

Stefanishyna told Ukrainian media that on Feb. 24, Ukraine had a clear plan of action but that “it is currently difficult to predict whether it will be implemented due to recent events.”

The European Commission started working on the framework for negotiations with Ukraine in January after voting to go forward with the talks in mid-December.