Germany Set to Boost Relations with Ukraine
President Viktor Yushchenko’s working visit to Germany was one of a series of European visits that he began immediately after his inauguration. This visit was different in some respects, however. On the one hand, it showed that Ukraine is still receiving a great deal of positive attention, as evidenced by the frequency and tone of articles on Ukraine in the international press. On the other hand, there is the distinct impression that admiration for the Orange Revolution does not prevent the German press from portraying Ukraine as a wellspring of illegal migrants. Days before Yushchenko’s visit a visa scandal erupted in Germany, which almost cost Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer his ministerial portfolio. Allegedly, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took advantage of loopholes in the visa issuing procedure to settle down in Germany.
Proof of the high level of trust placed in Yushchenko was the decision to grant him the rare privilege of addressing the Bundestag, which only the presidents of France, the USA, Russia, and the UN Secretary General have enjoyed before him. The Ukrainian delegation arrived with proposals regarding visa-free travel for Europeans and plans to revive the trilateral gas transport consortium. During the visit, Deutsche Bank and Naftohaz Ukrayiny signed a loan agreement worth two million euros. The business part of the visit was not restricted to discussions of oil, natural gas, and visa-related issues, as delegation members also held separate meetings. To all appearances, Yushchenko’s first working visit to Europe was, if anything, full of hopes for the future. Everything else Yushchenko said in Germany boiled down to promises of rapid and fundamental transformations, democratic development, and convictions in the Gongadze case, all of which the West still readily believes.
Speaking about visas, First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh said that Ukraine has decided to allow visa-free travel for EU citizens for the duration of the Eurovision song contest, primarily for students, journalists, and young people. Secretary of State Oleksandr Zinchenko said in an interview with Interfax that this can be arranged in a matter of 20 days by issuing a government decree followed by a presidential order. Visa- free travel may be prolonged in connection with a business forum slated for this June in Kyiv. This has nothing to do with the visa regime for EU citizens in the long term. In return, Ukraine would like a simpler visa procedure for its students, journalists, and young people traveling to Europe. This issue will be discussed in the coming days. Until now, neither the EU nor any of its member states have considered the possibility of gradually eliminating or at least simplifying the visa regime for Ukrainian citizens. Strangely enough, the EU started such negotiations with Russia in the past. The connection between the signing of readmission agreements and the elimination of visa regimes, which in the past produced the desired result for Central and Eastern European states, has not yet worked in the case of Ukraine. It is hoped that this will happen in the future, all the more so as it is consistent with the Action Plan signed by Ukraine and the EU as part of the European Neighborhood Policy.
The importance of economic and business issues that were discussed during the two days of negotiations is evidenced by the composition of the Ukrainian delegation, which included Tariel Vasadze, honorary president of the Ukravto Corporation, Oleh Boyaryn, general director of Eurocar, the main rival of Ukravto, and Serhiy Taruta, chairman of the board of the Industrial Union of Donbas. So it would be unfair to say that the new government is promoting only its own business interests. Yushchenko met with Germany’s business elite, while Chancellor Schroeder stated that a “high-level German- Ukrainian taskforce” will develop and implement joint economic projects. Schroeder also said that “we are interested in lending new dynamics to the relationship with Ukraine and supporting it in its accession to European structures.” Somehow this sounds like a new song to an old melody, since Schroeder made similar public statements a few years ago.
The question of oil and natural gas was discussed in two dimensions. First, judging by public statements from both sides, Ukraine and Germany are determined to hold serious talks with Russia on reviving the trilateral gas transport consortium that never materialized. Second, they discussed the creation of a joint Ukrainian-Polish-German trading house to transport Caspian natural gas to Western Europe. So far it is only a project on paper, but a very promising one.
Given the serious attempt to bury — once and for all — the idea of reverse pumping oil via the Odesa-Brody pipeline, it may be assumed that Germany has decided to join the major game, which will require it to assume major political commitments vis-a-vis Ukraine. As discussed on many past occasions, Ukraine’s expectations that Germany’s direct economic interest might entail direct political support may be justified, but only on condition that the new government is capable of ensuring such economic interest in the best interests of Ukraine.
Germany made its first step toward Ukraine when several Bundestag lawmakers visited revolutionary Kyiv. Now we are discussing a completely different level of relations, where feelings of affinity and support have given way to European interests. At the high-level consultations slated for this fall, Yushchenko and Schroeder will have a chance to prove that they are both headed in the right direction.
