Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KYIV868
2009-05-22 12:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE WELCOMES EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Tags:  PREL UP EU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0892
RR RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKV #0868/01 1421233
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 221233Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7844
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000868 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL UP EU
SUBJECT: UKRAINE WELCOMES EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Classified By: Political Counselor Colin Cleary. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000868

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL UP EU
SUBJECT: UKRAINE WELCOMES EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Classified By: Political Counselor Colin Cleary. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) President Yushchenko welcomed the launch of the EU's
Eastern Partnership as "a victory of the European idea." He
underlined that Belarus in particular had a "very important
role" to play. Ukraine aspires to a leadership role in the
Partnership, but officials emphasize that it in no way
substitutes for Ukraine's aspiration for EU membership.
Ukrainian officials hope for completion of an Association
Agreement, including a Free Trade Agreement, with the EU in
the latter half of 2010. End Summary.

Yushchenko Touts Inclusion of Belarus
--------------


2. (C) Fresh from his May 6 bilateral meeting with
Lukashenka, President Yushchenko welcomed the Eastern
Partnership as an initiative that would promote security and
democracy in the partner states. He said it represented "a
victory for the European idea." Yushchenko asserted that
both Ukraine and Belarus had a common interest in using the
Partnership to expand ties with the EU. Lukashenka,
following his meeting with Yushchenko, thanked Ukraine for
its advocacy. Yushchenko noted that Belarus must be part of
European processes and had "a very important role" to play.
Ihor Zhovkva, Chief of Staff to Deputy PM Nemyria agreed that
the Partnership's engagement with Belarus was a priority for
Ukraine. Isolation, he told us, had not worked. Despite
Lukashenka, it was important to keep lines open to the rest
of Belarussian society.

Neighborhood Policy Complementarity
--------------


3. (C) MFA interlocutors regard the Eastern Partnership as
complementary to bilateral Neighborhood Policy agendas,
rather than a repackaging of the neighborhood approach.
First Secretary in the Division for Analysis and Prognostics
of MFA's Directorate for the European Union Serhii Leshenko
told us that the wording of the Prague Joint Declaration was
important. The six Partners had been successful in holding
out for a clear statement that the Partnership would not
prejudice any individual Partner's EU aspirations. He added
that the labeling in the Joint Declaration of the Partners as
"eastern European" represented a small, but notable victory.
(Leshenko confided his doubts as to whether the Member States

truly regard Azerbaijan as European in any sense.)


4. (C) Leshenko said the Partnership incorporates elements
of and is modeled on the Association Agreement format under
negotiation between the EU and Ukraine. This includes the
Association Agreement, its appended Free Trade Agreement, and
the ongoing visa facilitation dialogue. He highlighted the
potential for the Partners to leverage both a common position
on regional issues and increased European engagement in the
region. The ability to come together as a united regional
grouping able to sit opposite the EU and (hopefully) speak
with one voice would have impact. Leshenko saw this as a
particularly effective way to link Belarus to the region,
while easing Minsk's fears about European pressure on human
rights and democracy.


5. (C) For their part, interlocutors at the European
Commission Delegation in Kyiv emphasize that Kyiv should be
satisfied that they have been placed together with former
Soviet countries in the partnership, rather than being
grouped, as previously, with countries like Tunisia.
Commission contacts opined that since Ukraine does not face
the prospect of membership any time soon, it should embrace
the Partnership as the best way to advance its case for
membership. Ukraine, they said, now seems to agree.

Moscow's Wariness on Western Engagement with Belarus
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Leshenko said that negotiations regarding the
Partnership had served as a convenient catalyst for
restarting "defunct" relations between Ukraine and Belarus.
Ukraine hopes to be an honest broker for Belarus in the
process. He saw a role for Ukraine in drawing Belarus
gradually into greater contact with the West through the
Partnership. Leshenko predicted that Moscow would react
negatively to Belarus' warming relations with its neighbors
and the EU.

Border Issues
--------------


7. (C) Among the areas of the Partnership, Ukraine is most

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eager to engage on integrated border management (IBM). This
is an area high on its bilateral priority list with Belarus,
and in which both Belarus and Moldova have expressed
interest. According to Leshenko, Ukraine sees the
possibility to use IBM to create in effect a larger external
border for the region, much like the current EU "skin". He
pointed to the insufficient funding of the EP, and asked
whether the U.S. might consider participating in or
supporting IBM projects in the Eastern Partnership framework.
At the same time, Leshenko admitted it is unclear how the EU
defines IBM in the context of the Partnership. Leshenko
alluded to possible linkage by the EU between strict
implementation of IBM to EU standards and further bilateral
visa facilitation - a key Ukrainian policy goal.

Association Agreement Expected in 2010
--------------


8. (C) Leshenko noted that negotiations on the political and
other sections of an Association Agreement were largely
finished. However, a Free Trade Agreement is an integral
part of the Association Agreement and a prerequisite to
finishing negotiations. Yushchenko has now admitted his
preferred deadline for negotiations -- the December 2009
EU-Ukraine Summit in Stockholm -- is no longer realistic, a
change welcomed by our EU Commission Delegation
interlocutors. Both they and Ihor Zhovkva predicted that
Ukraine and the EU would not conclude the Free Trade
Agreement until the second half of 2010 "at the earliest."


9. (C) In the meantime, the "New Practical Instrument" (NPI)
which replaces the expired 2005 EU-Ukraine Action Plan is
nearly ready -- though it still lacks a name. Leshenko said
that, while the GoU holds out hope that the NPI's eventual
name will reflect a membership perspective (something like
"Association Road Map"),the NPI's value will be in clearly
starting Association Agreement implementation before the
Agreement is even effective. The GoU hopes to launch the NPI
at the upcoming EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council meeting on
June 16 in Luxembourg.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Ukrainian officials appear to have gotten over
earlier concerns that the Eastern Partnership, by linking
Ukraine with countries that had little or no prospect for EU
membership, might tarnish Ukraine's accession chances.
Rather, the GOU has now decided to assume a leadership role
in the Partnership. Furthermore, Ukraine values the
potential of the Partnership to provide post-Soviet states
with a forum of discussion with the EU -- and outside
Moscow's control. The outreach to Belarus within the
framework of the Partnership has emerged as a central selling
point for Ukraine, complementing Ukraine's bilateral
engagement with the Lukashenka government.







TAYLOR