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Ukraine may sign EU association agreement after stable government is formed

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that after setting Yulia Tymoshenko free Ukraine has fulfilled all the terms of signing the Association Agreement with EU

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski EPA/JAKUB KAMINSKI

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski

© EPA/JAKUB KAMINSKI

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VIENNA, February 24. /ITAR-TASS/. The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement may be signed as soon as a new stable government is formed in the country, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in Budapest on Monday at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) uniting four Central European States - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

“After setting Yulia Tymoshenko free Ukraine has fulfilled all the terms of signing the Association Agreement,” he said. “The treaty waits for signing and, as soon as Ukraine forms a stable government, it can be signed.”

Sikorski commented on the fact that Verkhovna Rada speaker and Ukraine’s interim president Oleksandr Turchynov confirmed the country’s intention to resume the European course, maintaining at the same time good relations with Russia.

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He also expressed hope that “Russia will play a constructive role”, adding that it would be easier for Moscow to cooperate with Kiev if it was confirmed that “Ukraine is an ethnically and culturally diverse country, which, as a member of the European Council, should be tolerant towards minorities”.

The Visegrad Group was formed in February 1991 by Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary in order to intensify cooperation among the three Central European states and to facilitate integration in European and transatlantic institutions through mutual support. Since the disintegration of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Visegrad Group has been comprised of four countries, as both successor countries, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, are members of the Visegrad Group.

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