President Victor Yushchenko held a press conference today to summarize results of internal and external policy of the first half of 2008.
Speaking about cooperation with the European Union and particularly about the work on the new strengthened agreement between Ukraine and the EU President Yushchenko stressed that Ukraine is fully ready to come to a new level of relations with the organization.
According to him Ukraine have been conducting a very intensive dialogue with the EU lately. Since the beginning of the year our country and the EU had nine rounds of talks, resulting in agreement that the new document between Ukraine and the EU should be ambitious and embrace all dimensions of cooperation between the two sides.
Victor Yushchenko informed that now the part of the agreement regulating political, security, and legal cooperation is almost ready. Much progress was made in preparation of the economic part of the document too.
Besides, as President Victor Yushchenko noted, the results of June 22 meeting of the Council of the European Union were also favorable for Ukraine. At the meeting sides elaborated a common decision that the new agreement between Ukraine and the EU would contain term “association” in its name, further prospects for relations development and initiation of talks on canceling visas for Ukrainian citizens willing to travel to the EU countries.
“It is a consolidated position. To strengthen and develop it numerous bilateral meetings and talks must be held… and that what I will be doing for next to months to intensify that dialogue…”, - said President Yushchenko.
