Germany supports granting Ukraine an association in a new enhanced agreement with the EU, though stresses it will not imply an automatic membership of the country in the European Union.
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel claimed this at a joint press conference with President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko on results of their talks in Kyiv.
A.Merkel has positively assessed the work over an enhanced agreement between Ukraine and EU.
She recalled that a Ukraine-EU Summit will take place in France in September. “We, being the Federative Republic of Germany, can imagine that the depth of this agreement means not only an agreement on enhanced partnership, but it may be classified as an agreement on associate membership”, she said.
In the opinion of the Federal Chancellor, this agreement will become a significant step in the relations between Ukraine and EU, especially in the economic sphere.
At the same time, A.Merkel stressed that it does not really imply giving Ukraine a status of a EU associate member, but is a mere a wording in the enhanced agreement, According to her, the agreement, without any doubt, broadens relations between EU and Ukraine, but it does not mean any concrete perspectives of EU membership for the country. “It is rather a close approaching to the European Union through the status of so to say neighbor policy, which we practice in our relations with many other countries”, A.Merkel said.
