Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KYIV2266
2007-09-11 12:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: PREVIEW OF SEPTEMBER 14 SUMMIT WITH EU

Tags:  PREL PGOV ECIN ETRD ENRG EUN PO UP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4076
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKV #2266/01 2541218
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111218Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3684
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KYIV 002266 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/UMB, EUR/WE, AND EUR/ERA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECIN ETRD ENRG EUN PO UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: PREVIEW OF SEPTEMBER 14 SUMMIT WITH EU

REF: A. KYIV 2246

B. LISBON 1418

C. KYIV 853

D. KYIV 646

Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KYIV 002266

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/UMB, EUR/WE, AND EUR/ERA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECIN ETRD ENRG EUN PO UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: PREVIEW OF SEPTEMBER 14 SUMMIT WITH EU

REF: A. KYIV 2246

B. LISBON 1418

C. KYIV 853

D. KYIV 646

Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (C) Summary: An EU delegation of Portuguese Prime
Minister Socrates, EU Council Secretary General Solana,
European Commission President Barroso, and Commissioner
Ferrero-Waldner will participate in the EU-Ukraine summit
September 14 in Kyiv. In their private meetings, the EU
delegation will stress the importance of free-and-fair
parliamentary elections on September 30. Publicly, both
sides will issue a joint declaration that will provide a
progress report on negotiations toward an EU-Ukraine "New
Enhanced Agreement." While the public statement will no
doubt put a rosy spin on the progress attained, the
Portuguese Embassy privately detailed a number of thorny
problems. The centerpiece of the agreement should be an EU
visa facilitation agreement, but it has to be enacted
simultaneously with a readmission agreement (guaranteeing
that Ukraine will accept deported individuals who entered the
EU from Ukraine). Without a functioning parliament, the
agreements were unlikely to meet the target for
implementation by year's end. Furthermore, the EU was
concerned that, due to a lack of progress in negotiations
with Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine would not enter the World Trade
Organization by year's end or early 2008, an event that was a
precondition for beginning formal negotiations on an
EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement.


2. (C) Comment: The EU-Ukraine summit will be at least the
sixth summit that the Portuguese EU presidency will hold.
The Portuguese, however, who are putting their focus on South
America and Africa where they have a past colonial
relationships, do not have the same grasp of Ukraine's
geopolitical importance that the previous German and Finnish
EU presidencies possessed. With the small Portuguese Embassy

here hard-pressed to meet its presidency responsibilities,
the rather pro-forma summit will provide no surprises nor
much progress in the EU-Ukraine relationship. Regarding the
timing of Ukraine's WTO accession, we believe that the
Portuguese assessment is overly pessimistic and that Ukraine
could very well enter the WTO by year's end or early 2008.
End summary/comment.

The Delegation
--------------


3. (U) Portuguese Embassy Counselor Licinio Bingre do Amaral
previewed the September 14 EU-Ukraine summit for us during a
September 7 meeting. As reported in the media, the EU
delegation would comprise Portuguese Prime Minister Jose
Socrates (since Portugal is current EU President),EU Council
Secretary General Javier Solana, European Commission

SIPDIS
President Jose Manuel Barroso, and Commissioner for External
Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Bingre do Amaral noted that Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis
Amado would accompany the delegation, but European
Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson was unable to attend.

An Important Message
--------------


4. (C) Bingre do Amaral said the main topic of the summit
would be political developments in Ukraine, with the EU
delegation, in all their meetings, hammering home the
importance of free and fair elections. (Note: The EU-Ukraine
summit is timely, since it occurs just two weeks before the
September 30 parliamentary elections.) Bingre do Amaral said
EU officials had some concerns that a new requirement to have
the Ukrainian State Border Guards Service to report
departures of Ukrainians abroad could disproportionately
reduce voter rolls in western Ukraine (since Ukrainians,
generally from eastern Ukraine, traveling to Russia do not
need visas),where President Yushchenko's and the Our
Ukraine/Self Defense bloc's support is strongest. EU
officials were also concerned about relaxed rules for mobile
ballot box voting.

A Quick Trip
--------------


5. (U) Bingre do Amaral said the primary events on the summit
agenda would be the summit meeting, a press conference, and
an official lunch. In addition, Portuguese PM Socrates and
Barroso would meet with Prime Minister Yanukovych, and
Portuguese FM Amado would have a bilateral with Ukrainian FM
Yatsenyuk September 13, but the Ukrainians had thus far not

KYIV 00002266 002 OF 003


requested a separate bilateral for President Yushchenko.
Bingre do Amaral noted there was no time for meetings with
other politicians, such as opposition leader Yuliya
Tymoshenko, in the schedule (although Solana would meet with
her). Barroso was likely to attend an opening session of
Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pinchuk's Yalta European Strategy
(YES) Summer Institute (note: to be held September 13-16 at
the Hotel Rus in Kyiv). Altogether, Socrates would be in
Ukraine a total of 18 hours and Barroso not more than 20.
Bingre do Amaral commented that Socrates had to leave
promptly from Kyiv in order to make a September 17 meeting
with the U.S. President.

Summit Agenda
--------------


6. (C) In addition to the EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement
(further details below),the EU would raise Ukraine's actions
during the summit against the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) under the Economic and Trade topic.
(Note: The Ministry of Economy has threatened to suspend
IATA's activities in Ukraine over what authorities allege is
IATA's failure to bring the paper tickets its member airlines
use in line with Ukrainian law. Industry reps suspect that,
in reality, the GOU is acting on behalf of Ukrainian business
groups that want a piece of the significant cash flow
generated by IATA's ticketing activities in Ukraine.
Minister of Economy Anatoly Kinakh suspended the order until
October 5 after a face-to-face meeting with the Ambassador.
In the meantime, IATA is trying to comply with the GOU's
expectations. End note.)


7. (C) Bingre do Amaral said, regarding freedom of movement,
the EU would press Ukraine to take the steps necessary to
bring the EU-Ukraine visa facilitation agreement into effect,
including the extension of a visa-free regime for the EU's
two newest members -- Romania and Bulgaria. He commented
that Ukraine had recently begun moving in the opposite
direction, speaking of increasing visa fees for Romanians and
Bulgarians. Ukrainian FM Yatsenyuk's recent scrutiny of EU
member states' visa issuance procedures and treatment of
Ukrainian visa applicants had also irritated EU countries,
complicating the ratification procedure necessary for the
visa facilitation agreement.


8. (C) The summit would also seek to advance an EU-Ukraine
agreement on energy security cooperation, signed at the 2006
EU-Ukraine summit in Helsinki. Either Economy Minister
Anatoly Kinakh or Ukrainian Ambassador to Belgium would sign
a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the agreement in
Brussels the week of September 10. Bingre do Amaral
highlighted the MOU's importance, noting particular EU
concern over the state of Ukraine's natural gas pipelines,
which were urgently in need of overhaul and upgrading in
order to maintain the pressure (and volumes) of natural gas
transiting to Western Europe. The summit agenda would be
rounded out with exchanges of views on nuclear safety and the
environment; Russia; Moldova and Transnistria; the GUAM
regional organization (named for its Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, and Moldova members); and Belarus. Bingre do
Amaral commented that Ukraine had attempted to have Kosovo
included on the agenda, but finally dropped this request.


9. (C) When asked, Bingre do Amaral admitted the Portuguese
Presidency's focus was on Africa and South America. It had
no particular goals for the EU relationship with Ukraine, nor
was it seeking a particular achievement. Earlier, he also
noted that Portugal was putting an emphasis on disarmament
and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction during
its presidency, which fit well with Ukraine's involvement in
the G-8 Global Partnership and its importance on these
issues. The EU would press for an explanation of Ukraine's
lack of support to an EC-funded landmine destruction project,
which was ultimately canceled (ref A).

Joint Declaration
--------------


10. (C) Lisbon was preparing its comments on a text of the
summit joint declaration, Bingre do Amaral noted, which
should then be finalized by September 10. The joint
declaration would incorporate a progress report on EU-Ukraine
negotiations to establish a "New Enhanced Agreement." On
that score, Bingre do Amaral said the Ukrainians continued to
insist strongly that the New Enhanced Agreement include a
reference to the possibility of Ukraine's eventual EU
membership, a demand that the EU found impossible to accept
(refs C and D).

New Enhanced Agreement

KYIV 00002266 003 OF 003


--------------


11. (SBU) Bingre do Amaral fretted that the New Enhanced
Agreement was encountering a number of problems. A key
feature, the EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, could not be
formally negotiated until Ukraine entered the World Trade
Organization (WTO),an outcome that was threatened by
Ukraine's continuing lack of agreement on a market access
agreement with Kyrgyzstan, without any real progress in sight.


12. (C) Prospects for the EU-Ukraine Visa Facilitation
Agreement were also murky. Bingre do Amaral explained that
the EU required the Visa Facilitation Agreement to be
implemented simultaneously with an EU-Ukraine Readmission
Agreement. Some Verkhovna Rada (parliament) deputies,
however, were fiercely opposed to the Readmission Agreement's
ratification; moreover, scheduling of early parliamentary
elections on September 30 implied that there might not be a
functioning Rada in time to meet the target to implement the
Visa Facilitation Agreement by the end of 2007. In addition,
Ukraine was dragging its feet on the selection of new
detention centers that were to be built with European
Commission funding. Bingre do Amaral speculated that, since
the funding would be transferred as budgetary support to the
Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Interior officials might be
looking for the location that would allow them to rake off as
much funding as possible.


13. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor