Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-13-Speech-4-030"
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"en.20050113.3.4-030"2
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"Now that the initially grotesque Soviet-style election farce in Ukraine has been resolved, primarily due to the efforts of the EU, it is time to ask: ‘what next?’ Let us leave aside for the moment the question of whether Ukraine will or will not become a member of the EU. It will, as long as it does what is necessary, and as long as we do what is necessary.
First, we have to go much further than President Kuchma’s stagnation-period action plan. We need to concentrate on the essential reforms with which the EU can assist Ukraine, since Ukraine’s achievements during the following two-year-long window of opportunity will largely determine whether Ukraine is cut out for Europe or not. The EU must focus on the practical questions holding Ukraine back: corruption, low administrative capacity, crony capitalism, freedom of the press. Solutions do not just require money, but also thousands of experts from the new EU Member States, which have faced the same problems and have resolved them successfully; their membership of the EU is proof of that. I call on the Commission to considerably extend their development plan for reforms, primarily using citizens and officials from the countries that have successfully implemented the same reforms. We should be pragmatic and use the EU’s human potential to help Ukraine, and we should do so now.
Secondly, Russia’s behaviour throughout the Ukrainian election saga indicates that it is time for the EU to end its ostrich-like policy on Russia. In addition to a significant backslide in democracy and freedom, which according to Freedom House has taken Russia into the
category, we must not ignore Russia’s foreign policy actions. Just recently, Russia announced that it would not honour the commitment it made at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul to withdraw its troops from Georgia and Moldavia. Russia’s blatant interference in the Ukrainian elections, the growing hostility towards EU institutions, and the unacceptable declaration regarding the EU leaders and officials who resolved the Ukrainian crisis demonstrate that the EU must rethink its policies in this direction."@en1
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"Not Free"1
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