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Give Ukraine special status, Baltic states urge EU

Other News Materials 25 January 2010 17:57 (UTC +04:00)
The European Union should give Ukraine special status and encourage it towards membership no matter who wins the country's presidential elections, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia said at a meeting with EU counterparts on Monday.
Give Ukraine special status, Baltic states urge EU

The European Union should give Ukraine special status and encourage it towards membership no matter who wins the country's presidential elections, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia said at a meeting with EU counterparts on Monday, DPA reported.

The EU is keen to strengthen its influence in Ukraine to counter-balance Russia's resurgent diplomacy there. In the first round of the presidential elections on January 17, Viktor Yanukovych, seen as the pro-Moscow candidate, romped to an impressive lead.

"Ukraine deserves special status in relations to the EU ... It's clear that partnership is not enough for Ukraine, but they're not ready for membership: what they really need from my point of view is mentoring," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas.

Ukraine is the largest member of the EU's so-called Eastern Partnership, a cooperation programme which also links the EU with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.

Pro-Western groups in Ukraine say that the partnership is only the first step towards eventual EU membership, a stance which EU states such as Poland and the Baltics echo.

"Ukraine, like all other European countries, should have a clear perspective of EU membership, but it's up to Ukraine how they develop and what kind of steps they are ready to take," Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said.

Over the last five years, the pro-Western government in Kiev has pushed for closer ties with the EU and NATO, despite hostile comments from Russia and from ethnic Russian communities in Ukraine.

Usackas said that that stance was not likely to change even if Yanukovych - seen in the last set of elections in 2004 as the Kremlin's preferred candidate - came to power.

"I don't think Yanukovych is anti-European. I think he, like (challenger and Prime Minister Yulia) Tymoshenko, is first and foremost pro-Ukrainian," Usackas said.

Yanukovych and Tymoshenko are set to face off in a run-off poll on February 7.

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