EU Enlargement Commissioner Confident That Association Agreement With Ukraine Will Be Signed

When asked whether the Vilnius summit would be considered a failure if the Association Agreement with Ukraine is not signed, he replied: "The Eastern Partnership will not fail."

When asked whether the Vilnius summit would be considered a failure if the Association Agreement with Ukraine is not signed, he replied: "The Eastern Partnership will not fail."

He noted that there are certain conditions that Ukraine must meet to insure that the agreement is signed, but added that he has no reason to doubt that the work will continue.

Following a meeting with the Prime Minister of Moldova, Yuri Lenk, Füle said: "We are committed with Prime Minister Lenk and other members of the Eastern Partnership Program to achieve the results and meet the expectations using the Vilnius summit as a place to sign in the first case and initial in the other case these very important agreements with our partners."

He added that the meeting of the Cooperation Council in Luxembourg in June "will be another opportunity to see where we are, what should be done to make sure meaningful progress is achieved."

Just last month, the European Commission gave the green light on the Association Agreement, passing the decision on to the European Council, which comprises the 27 European Union member states, for a final decision.

The recommendation recognized that Ukraine is positively engaged in activity designed to comply with conditions set out by the European Council of Ministers in December of last year.

Ukraine has since embarked on a wide-ranging reform process, designed to bring its laws in line with European standards, including its criminal and tax codes and improvements to the electoral law. The country has also simplified its visa regime and adopted tough, new anti-discrimination legislation.