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Turchynov: Ukraine seeks EU membership

Attempts to stop European integration plans gave impulse to mass protests in country, Oleksandr Turchynov stressed

© EPA/FILIP SINGER

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Political part of Ukraine-EU association agreement signed

KIEV, March 27. / ITAR-TASS /. The main aim for Ukraine is European Union membership, Oleksandr Turchynov, parliament-appointed Acting President of Ukraine said today during the 21st meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Cooperation between Ukraine and the EU.

“For Ukraine the signing of an association agreement with the European Union is not the ultimate aim, it is the beginning of a new cooperation. We set ourselves the aim of full membership in the EU,” he said and added that despite the situation with Crimea "european integration continues, the movement in Europe does not stop."

At the same time he noted that attempts to stop European integration plans gave an impulse to the mass protests in the country. "People took to the streets for the right to choose its own path with dignity," he added.

The association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and the member states was originally planned to be concluded at the Eastern Partnership summit on November 28-29, 2013, in Vilnius. However, a week before, the Ukrainian cabinet headed by Nikolai Azarov suspended the preparation for the signing. After the decision, the opposition started mass protest demonstrations, which developed into violent clashes with police and led to the change of power in Ukraine.

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