News

The Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine must be signedHerman Van Rompuy
President of the European Council
Jose Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament
Catherine Ashton
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis
President of the Council of the European Union, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus

Ukraine has never been so close and at the same time so far from the breakthrough on its way of European integration. The country has closely approached the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU after long and difficult negotiation process was finally completed. The demand for change and European choice is growing in Ukrainian society. However, the Association Agreement is the subject of serious debate because, at the highest level, the official dialogue between Kyiv and Brussels is marked by the deep confidence crisis.
Today, Ukraine experiences negative developments on international and domestic political arena, but nothing can affect political stability, economic prosperity and the European perspective of the country as much as postponing the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU. As citizens of Ukraine, we strongly condemn regress in democratic standards and weakening the rule of law in our country. We welcome the principled position of the EU as a reliable and open partner that exercises value-based policies.
We also fully share concerns of the EU. Obviously, stopping politically motivated selective justice, correcting shortcomings that affected the parliamentary elections and their results in 2012, and implementing reforms under Association Agenda remain key issues and require immediate steps for solving them. At the same time, we are also aware that the European vector of Ukraine is under growing threat.
At this difficult time, it is crucial to understand that the risks of not signing the Agreement are more serious than the risks related to its signing and implementation. Currently, opponents of the Agreement, both in Ukraine and abroad, are eager to torpedo the Agreement with the hands of the EU in order to gain an opportunity to manipulatively accuse the EU of unwillingness to take a step toward Ukraine. Ukranian society needs the Association Agreement much more than its authorities.
In this crucial moment, we urge the European Union and its Member States to manifest solidarity with the Ukrainian people, to bring support and demonstrate the far-reaching thinking, giving Ukraine the prospect of the European future. We urge the EU and its Member States to sign the 2013 Association Agreement, creating this additional lever to ensure the irreversibility of Ukraine’s European choice. In turn, as representatives of the civil society and expert community, we are ready to initiate, engage in and conduct activities that will contribute to the implementation of the Agreement, the introduction of mechanisms for civic monitoring of its implementation, and hence the development of a democratic, European Ukraine.

1. Alyona GETMANCHUK, Director of the Institute of World Policy
2. Oleksandr SUSHKO, Research Director of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic cooperation, National Coordinator of the Ukrainian National Platform for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum
3. Valeriy CHALYI, Deputy Director General of the Razumkov Centre, Chairman of Civic Expert Council at the Ukrainian Part of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Committee
4. Viktor SHLINCHAK, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of World Policy
5. Mykhailo HONCHAR, Centre NOMOS
6. Igor KOLIUSHKO, Head of the Centre of Political and Law Reforms
7. Igor BURAKOVSKYI, Head of the Institute of Economic Studies and Political Consulting
8. Oleh RYBACHUK, Chair of NGO Centre UA
9. Oleksandr CHERNENKO, Head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine
10. Inna PIDLUSKA, Deputy Executive Director, International Renaissance Foundation
11. Volodymyr HORBACH, political analyst at Institute for Euro-Atlantic cooperation
12. Hanna GOLUBOVSKA-ONISIMOVA, Head of NGO “MAMA-86”
13. Svyatoslav PAVLYUK, Deputy Director, Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation (PAUCI), Kyiv
14. Dmytro LYAPIN, Head of Property and Freedom Institute
15. Yaropolk TYMKIV, Ph.D, International Information Department, Lviv Polytechnic National University
16. Pavlo ZHOVNIRENKO, Chairman of Centre for Strategic Studies
17. Iryna BEKESHKINA, Director of the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation
18. Volodymyr FESENKO, Director of the Centre for Political Studies “Penta”
19. Kost BONDARENKO, Head of Institute of Ukrainian Politics
20. Tetyana SYLINA, Observer of International Desk at the Newspaper «Mirror Weekly. Ukraine»
21. Sergiy SOLODKYY, First Deputy Director of the Institute of World Policy
22. Volodymyr KRAVCHENKO, Observer of International Desk at the Newspaper «Mirror Weekly. Ukraine»
23. Natalya BELITSER, Researcher at Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy
24. Igor SEMYVOLOS, Centre for Middle East Studies
25. Vadym TRYUKHAN, Head of Workshop of European Integration
26. Anton ANTONENKO, DiXi Group
27. Oleksandr NEBERYKUT, Civil Network OPORA
28. Yulia TYSHCHENKO, Head of the Board of the Ukrainian Centre for Independent Political Research
29. Tamara TRATSEVYCH, Chairman of “Tree of Life” Centre for Human Rights, Kharkiv
30. Volodymyr VOLOKH, NGO “Human and Society”
31. Robert KHOROLSKY, International Law Expert
32. Olga ZIUZINA, Dnipropetrovsk regional organization “Uran”, Dnipropetrovsk
33. Serhiy KULYK, “Nomos” Centre, Sevastopol
34. Anatoliy PINCHUK, All-Ukrainian Civic Organization “Ukrainian Strategy”
35. Mariya HELETIY, European Information Support Centre of Verkhovna Rada
36. Mykola LIAKHOVYCH, Chernivtsi Regional Civic Organization “Bukovyna Regional Development Agency”
37. Olga GALYTSKA, PAUCI Foundation
38. Iryna SUSHKO, “Europe without Barriers” Public Initiative
39. Halyna USATENKO, “Europe XXI” Foundation
40. Ihor OREL, “Vybir” Civic Organization
41. Oksana VOLOSHENIUK, Academy of Ukrainian Press
42. Volodymyr KUPRIY, Charity Fund CCC Creative Centre
43. Mykhailo PASHKOV, Razumkov Centre
44. Anatoliy BOYKO, Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Odessa
45. Oleg ZHYVOTOVSKYI, NGO “European Choice”
46. Vadym PYLYPENKO, The International Association of Regional Development Institutions
47. Yuriy RIEZNIKOV, Ukrainian nature conservation society, Khmelnytsky
48. Volodymyr KOZMENKO, Ukrainian Association of the European Studies, Chernivtsi
49. Alla MUKSHYMENKO, Public Legal Assistance Centre „Public advocate”
50. Viktor MELNYCHUK, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine