Hungary: Ukraine-EU Agreements Should be Greenlighted December 19

"Association is not a gift to Ukraine, it is a mutually beneficial agreement," emphasized the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko during the meeting with Hungarian colleague Minister Martonyi.

"Association is not a gift to Ukraine, it is a mutually beneficial agreement," emphasized the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko during the meeting with Hungarian colleague Minister Martonyi.

Furthermore, the foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding during the continuing visit of János Martonyi to Kyiv. The agreement will become one of documents that provide the legal basis for the liberalization of the visa regime between the EU and Ukraine. Minister Martonyi said Hungary supported simplification of the border crossing procedure between the Union and Ukraine.

Besides Hungary, various members of the EU have stated their support for Ukraine's European ambition. Lately, officials of Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia backed Ukraine's aspiration to become a member of the EU. Traditionally being a major international ally for Ukraine, Poland stated its support of the European integration of Ukraine multiple times.

The business and political elite of Ukraine and the EU expects the fate of Ukraine's European future to be decided at the top level Ukraine-EU summit that will take place in Kyiv on December 19, 2011. Recently Podrobnosti.ua reported that the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych would meet the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy at the summit.

Preparing for the upcoming summit, the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle arrived in the Ukrainian capital on December 12, 2011, to discuss the Association Agreement. The off-schedule visit ensued right after the successful conclusion of the critical talks between the leaders of the EU member states over the financial issues at the EU caused by the euro zone crisis.