Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-12-Speech-4-020"
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"en.20070712.3.4-020"2
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"Mr President, the mandate we are discussing is, finally, a positive and constructive signal from the European Community which those seeking reform in Ukraine have long been waiting for.
Ukraine is a very young country, barely twenty years old. It is only beginning to learn how to function, to build and respect its own structures and institutions, and is learning the rules of democracy. Prior to that, for hundreds of years, Ukrainians were deprived of their own state and this country’s situation is utterly different to that of the Baltic states, which lost their statehood for a period of forty years.
The issue of which principles will be used to shape the young Ukrainian state is vitally important as Ukraine is the European Union’s biggest direct neighbour. The question arises as to who will be able to mobilise Ukrainians and to what ends. Will it be Russia, a non-democratic country with a corrupt economy which is used as a tool for exerting political influence, or a democratic and free European Union?
To date, the European Union has, at most, been indifferent to Ukraine’s European aspirations. Apart from its short-term, constructive involvement during the Orange Revolution, the statements of consecutive Commissioners have, so far, revealed the European Union to be indifferent and distant. The mandate we are debating is an opportunity to change this attitude. It creates long-term prospects of European Union membership, pledges more financial aid, following an interim assessment, the creation of a free trade zone and moves to make obtaining visas easier.
However, everything has its price. In exchange, the Community has made it clear that it expects Ukraine to continue along the path to democracy. Ukraine is expected to focus on building the institutions which are characteristic of a democratic country that is able to independently solve crises. The European Union expects Ukraine to reform and, first and foremost, to grant the judiciary independence from political influence so that the country finally has a fully independent constitutional court. It also wants Ukraine to separate politics from economics and to effectively fight corruption.
This is an enormous amount of work, which will be difficult for Ukrainians to complete and will involve many years of toil. However, I am convinced that Ukraine will only be able to meet these challenges if it has a clear, albeit distant, prospect of European integration."@en1
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