Yushchenko’s visit was a low-key affair that received little coverage in either the Ukrainian or the international press, but it is thought to be further evidence of the warm personal relationship between the two presidents, something that could become a more significant factor when France takes over the EU presidency for a six-month period in the second half of 2008.
Sarkozy has suggested the creation of an Association Agreement which will underline the improving relations between Ukraine and the EU and put Ukraine in a position where it can begin to tentatively look towards eventual EU membership. The former Warsaw Pact countries of central Europe all enjoyed association agreements with the EU prior to attaining full membership in 2004, and any new agreement would be viewed as an indication that Brussels is finally taking Kyiv’s EU aspirations seriously.
At their Paris meeting both presidents focused on the political aspect of the future agreement. “We are currently discussing the kind of treaty that will be able to provide Ukraine with a European perspective,” explained the Ukrainian president. Any new deal would give Ukraine the right to be consulted on proposed new EU policies, in a similar manner to that enjoyed by non-Schengen passport-free zones or European Economic Area countries such as Norway and Iceland. Sarkozy’s supportive stance is a major contrast to the position adopted by his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who sent his foreign minister to Kyiv in the aftermath of the Orange Revolution to warn the country not to apply for EU membership.
The EU and NATO
As well as negotiations on Ukraine’s European prospects Yushchenko and Sarkozy also discussed France’s position towards Ukraine’s controversial NATO ambitions. In a recent statement French state secretary Jean-Pierre Jouyet said that it was impossible to consider issuing Ukraine with a Membership Action Plan on NATO membership at the forthcoming April NATO summit in Bucharest, claiming that the country was not in a position to be considered for membership.
Yushchenko refused to say whether he had secured Sarkozy’s support for Ukraine’s membership of the military alliance but claimed he had met with “complete understanding” on the NATO issue.
French political analyst Nicola Garcia was quoted on the BBC stating that official French reticence over Ukraine’s NATO ambitions sprung from a desire to improve relations with Russia, which is very irritated with Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO. “For the first time in many years France recently went directly against Russian interests when it chose to recognise Kosovo’s independence, so any rebuff for Ukraine over NATO should be viewed in this light,” Garcia explained.
Public support for Ukraine
Recent public opinion polls in France carried out by social survey specialists TNS Sofres have shown that over 50% of the French population favours the idea of Ukraine joining both NATO and the EU, but it remains unlikely that the majority of European Union member states would currently back any moves to offer Kyiv a clear roadmap to future membership.
