Yalta Conference in a new format

Later last week Yalta hosted the third forum of the Yalta European Strategy international network founded three years ago by the well-known businessman Viktor Pinchuk as a place for debating Ukraine’s chances to join the European Union. Yalta European Strategy-2006 was in fact the first real attempt of this debate club of European and American intellectual “friends of Ukraine” to map out a clear-cut strategy: as the debates drew to a close, Marek Siwiec, Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and Mr. Pinchuk proposed a concrete plan of actions, Agenda-2020, which structurally itemizes Ukraine’s target-oriented work until the year 2020. In 2006-2007 Ukraine should reinforce its political system on the basis of equilibrium between the main branches of power, carry out administrative and judicial reforms, implement a new national anti-corruption plan, ensure independence of the radio, television and other media, and thus enhance the freedom of expression, and pass WTO membership laws. In 2010 to 2011 Ukraine is to adopt the EU Accession Strategy and formally apply for membership. In 2014 this country should enter into EU membership negotiations which will end in 2019 with the signing of the EU entry agreement. The latter may be ratified in 2020, which will in fact mean Ukraine’s full-fledged membership in the club of Europe’s most advanced countries.

As Mr. Siwiec emphasized, the true significance of Agenda-2020 is that it not only concretizes Ukraine’s movement towards the European Union but also makes it possible to find a real time period between the two unreal extremes — “tomorrow” and “never” — and thus restore optimism. It is obvious that Ukraine will not become an EU member “tomorrow” because the European Union itself, now in a crisis provoked by the admission of a group of new members, is not prepared for this. At the same time, this plan also eliminates the hopeless “never,” which will enable this country to make self-improvement efforts on the basis of European principles, with the goal being spelled out clearly and set within realistic time limits. Only time will show whether Yalta European Strategy will become something more than just “intellectual salad” and Agenda- 2020 a real “road map” for Ukraine on its way to the European Union.