JAVIER SOLANA: “I SEE NO THREAT TO DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE”

Javier Solana’s visit to Ukraine last week was fairly unexpected. At least, none of the diplomats involved in arranging the visit could say it was planned in advance. The only official ceremony on the visit agenda was awarding the Order of Yaroslav the Wise to the Secretary-General of the EU Council and EU High Representative for the CFSP. . It is doubtful, however, that Solana arrived in Kyiv with the sole purpose of receiving the award from Viktor Yushchenko: he must have had other priorities in mind, especially in the light of the upcoming informal EU energy summit in Finland. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to dinner with the EU summit participants. A week later, on October 27, Helsinki will host another meeting of even greater significance for Ukraine – the EU-Ukraine summit. In both cases it is critical for the European Union to understand what kind of a country Ukraine is today. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych did not seem to send a clear signal on this during his two visits to Brussels. In other words, the EU has difficulty understanding what Ukraine’s political landscape looks like after the parliamentary elections and “who is the king of the castle”… At a joint press conference with Viktor Yanukovych, the guest from Brussels made it clear the EU is concerned over frequent and swift political perturbations in Ukraine. In particular, he said the EU would like to ascertain the situation on the eve of the Helsinki summit during which “very important issues” are to be considered. On Friday, before leaving for Finland Javier Solana gave an interview to ZN. Now he seems to know who is “in charge”. Commenting on power supplies, the Brussels official walked on eggshells, trying to avoid topics that could nettle or embarrass Russia. At the press conference, though, he dropped a hint that while negotiating energy cooperation with Russia, the EU would take into account Ukraine’s interests as well. In the interview he declined to specify what Kyiv and Brussels should do together in order to prevent another potential “gas attack”. Instead he argued the EU would not ally with anybody against somebody else, and the security of power supplies depended, to a great extent, on Ukraine itself. We recall that Brussels was not very happy about the Russian-Ukrainian gas agreements reached in January 2006. European diplomats admitted, off the record, that they expected Ukraine to at least seek independent expert advice before launching non-transparent schemes with RosUkrEnergo, especially if it had support from the EU to count on. ZN asked Javier Solana about his conclusions and feelings on leaving Ukraine.

— Mr Solana, my impression is that the main purpose of your visit to Kyiv was to analyze Ukraine’s political situation “on the ground”. What are the results of your fact-finding mission?

— I met with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Yuliya Tymoshenko. We discussed the current political situation in Ukraine and its relations with the European Union. You know that the political landscape of your country has changed recently. Economically, Ukraine is doing well, and Kyiv is working towards WTO accession. If Ukraine succeeds in doing it soon, we will start negotiating for the creation of free trade zones. I hope stability will become a reality in Ukraine and progress in reforms will continue.

— Have you managed to find out which of the branches of power in Kyiv plays the key role in foreign policy now that the constitutional reform has taken effect?

— We have managed to discuss a lot of fundamental political issues. It took Ukraine a long time to form the government. It was finally appointed some time ago, but the other day we heard about the “Our Ukraine” ministers’ resignation. Who is in charge of the nation? The President is. The Prime Minister is responsible for managerial functions.

— The EU is preparing for negotiations with Ukraine and Russia on new treaties to replace the previous partnership and cooperation agreements. The EU-Ukrainian PCA expires next year. This country announced its ambition to join the EU some day, while Russia made no statements to this effect. Will this affect the new, enhanced agreement with Ukraine?

— Of course, these new agreements will be different because the countries are different. Both documents are being designed more meticulously, and more insightfully than the previous ones. In some areas they will provide for a closer cooperation with Ukraine, in others, with Russia. Will the new agreement enshrine Ukraine’s aspirations to accede to the EU? The negotiations have not started yet, but I do not think the accession will be on the agenda in the near future. The EU door is open but, as matters stand, it is too early to discuss specific dates. Perhaps, the most attractive benchmark for Ukraine at this stage will be approaching a free trade zone with the EU. It would allow us to intensify our economic cooperation. For this to happen, however, Ukrainian Parliament would have to pass a number of laws that would facilitate the country’s accession to WTO.

— At the EU-Ukrainian summit last year, the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the Energy Sector. Soon after, Russia bullied Ukraine and several EU countries by reducing gas supplies. In your opinion, what joint steps should the EU and Ukraine take to prevent a similar “gas attack” in the future?

— The situation in the energy sector has changed. It is one of the most pressing issues of today. In terms of power supplies, EU relations with Russia and Ukraine are of top priority, as gas comes to us from Russia via Ukraine. Therefore, the EU welcomes and supports wholeheartedly good, sustainable relations between Russia and Ukraine.

— Are you planning to raise the “Ukrainian issue” in your talks with Vladimir Putin?

— I do not think the EU should discuss Ukraine with the Russian leaders. I know Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is going to meet with his Russian counterpart next week to finalize the gas price negotiations.

— Do the EU member-states have a common energy policy vis-a-vis Russia or will the latter continue to have separate gas deals with each EU country using gas prices as political leverage?

— Tonight we are going to discuss energy issues in detail with President Vladimir Putin. It is hard to develop and adopt a common energy policy since the EU member-states deal with different gas suppliers. Although Russia is the main supplier to several of the EU countries, I cannot say all European power supplies come from there. Still, we intend to develop a common energy policy, including in respect to the supplying countries. I would also like to emphasize that security of power supplies is viewed as an integral part of the EU security at large. The EU member-states should apply concerted efforts to addressing these sensitive issues. We should discuss realistic and effective ways of achieving our common goals in this sphere.

— The EU often voices its concerns about threats to Russia’s democratic development. Do you use human rights as a bargaining chip in gas negotiations? And speaking of Ukraine, do you think there could be a U-turn in its course towards democratic reforms? Does the EU see any difference between the level of democracy in Ukraine and Russia?

— I believe democratic reforms in Ukraine are irreversible. The March 2006 parliamentary elections testified to it: they were free and fair, as all observers concurred. Yet I do not think one should compare the level of democracy in different countries. As for Ukraine, it did, indeed, make noticeable headway in strengthening democracy at the latest elections.

— Who or what could threaten Ukraine’s democratic development?

— I do not see any threats to democracy in Ukraine.

— The EU closely cooperates with Ukraine in settling the Trans-Dniestria conflict. Some representatives of the Party of Regions have repeatedly urged the Supreme Rada to annul the customs regime currently in effect at the Trans-Dniestria section of the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. Did you receive any guarantees from the Ukrainian government (in particular, from the Prime Minister) that Ukraine would respect its earlier agreements with Moldova and the European Union?

— As you know, the EU is a party to multinational talks on resolving the sad predicament in Trans-Dnistria. We cooperate with the border control mission in Ukraine. Negotiations on the Trans-Dniestria settlement are not proceeding very smoothly, and that worries us very much. Trans-Dniestria is a “black hole” in this part of Europe. As far as I understood from my meeting and talks in Kyiv, the customs regime there will not be revised.