KIEV, August 19 (Itar-Tass) —— The European choice has become the foundation of Ukraine’s foreign political identity, President Viktor Yanukovich said in his article “20 Years of Ukraine: the Road Has Just Begun” for the weekly Zerkalo Nedeli. Ukraine.
“Time will come and Ukraine will be a member of the European Union and join the developed countries in ten years. I am sure that will be so,” he said.
“In spite of all the problems, we have taken the main step: we have made a final decision about our future. The European choice has become the foundation of Ukraine’s foreign policy. European values have become the foundation of our development. We are confident that the Association Agreement and the document on forming a comprehensive and profound free trade zone are what Ukraine and the European Union need. Hopefully, our partners will understand that,” the president wrote.
“Ukraine not just wants to be a European country. We want to join the big European project of building common Europe based on the values of freedom, democracy and law. We want to join in at the difficult time, we are not seeking subsidies or concessions, we want possibilities and rights. We want to join in despite the hard pressure and deliberate slowing, and to share rights of equal partners. We want to join in for the sake of our common future,” he said.
European progress “is impossible without neighborly relations with Russia,” Yanukovich noted. “The years of independence have proven that such relations are possible only in the case of the provision of bilateral balance of national interests and mutual respect. The state and its administration are doing their best to ensure this balance,” he said.
Yanukovich stressed the importance of relations with the United States and China. Ukraine will continue to develop cooperation with NATO and other security institutions in Europe. “National pragmatism based on interests of Ukrainian citizens is our guideline in developing relations with other states,” he said.
“We know what to do and realize how to do that. We have chosen the development strategy and we have a sufficient political will for its implementation. European democratic and rich Ukraine, a free state in which people will feel protected, is our goal, and it will be attained. This goal unites all the Ukrainians regardless of their political preferences or beliefs. There is no alternative to profound modernization in the achievement of this goal. We hope for support of all Europeans on this road,” he said.