Ukraine in the spotlight as EU summit wraps-up
- 10 years ago
As EU leaders gathered for the last time in 2013, a post-mortem on Ukraine’s apparent shun of closer ties, was very much high on the agenda.
Spurning a planned EU deal in favour of Russian aide, the Ukrainian government drew the ire of many of its own people, with street protests engulfing Kiev.
In Brussels the message has been somewhat milder, with one EU figurehead stressing that the door remains open to Ukraine, just perhaps not its current government.
The divisive issue has been far from laid to rest, as the summit gave fresh analysis of views on relationship
José Manuel Barroso, European Commision President:
“For the European, as the President of the European Council already stated, the offer of an association agreement including a deepen and comprehensive free trade area has always been precisely that: an offer, a proposition. It was never an imposition. And as we stated in Vilnius the European Union remains committed to the signing of the agreement.”
The two day summit als
Spurning a planned EU deal in favour of Russian aide, the Ukrainian government drew the ire of many of its own people, with street protests engulfing Kiev.
In Brussels the message has been somewhat milder, with one EU figurehead stressing that the door remains open to Ukraine, just perhaps not its current government.
The divisive issue has been far from laid to rest, as the summit gave fresh analysis of views on relationship
José Manuel Barroso, European Commision President:
“For the European, as the President of the European Council already stated, the offer of an association agreement including a deepen and comprehensive free trade area has always been precisely that: an offer, a proposition. It was never an imposition. And as we stated in Vilnius the European Union remains committed to the signing of the agreement.”
The two day summit als