KYIV, Ukraine, October 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The U.K. supports Ukraine's European aspirations and believes that Kyiv has achieved important progress toward the signing of the association with the EU. This was stated by Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague before the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, reported Ukrinform.

In his statement the U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague stressed that what was happening in Ukraine was not just a matter of one person (Yulia Tymoshenko - Ed.) but referred to important reforms where Ukraine had achieved important progress. He also noted the importance of further progress while addressing the issues of selective justice, elections and judicial reform in Ukraine. In conclusion, the U.K. official expressed hope that Kyiv fulfilled the necessary conditions for signing the Association Agreement with the EU in late November in Vilnius.

Similar hope was expressed by the government officials of many European countries including Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and others.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves during his recent meeting with the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych supported the signing of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, emphasizing that Ukraine was, in fact, a part of Europe, as quoted by Unian. Moreover, he expressed his dissatisfaction with third party pressure directed at Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia regarding their foreign policy choice.

Notably, European experts consider the signing of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement to be the crucial step in the development of the EU's Eastern Partnership. Such opinion was recently voiced by Tom Casier, Brussels School of International Relations, University of Kent, Amanda Paul, European Policy Center, Christian Forstner, Hanns Seidel Stiftung, and Ina Kirsch, European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, in their mid-October comments for Interfax.

Failure to cooperate with neighbors will strip the EU of its credibility, suggested Amanda Paul. Additionally, Georgia and Moldova depend on the seriousness of the EU-Ukraine cooperation to help their own progress. Given Ukraine is the main component of the Eastern Partnership, the whole Eastern Partnership policy would require rethinking should the AA with Ukraine not be signed, said Christian Forstner.

SOURCE Worldwide News Ukraine