Not a word about partnership

On Thursday President Viktor Yushchenko gathered several dozen journalists from the central mass media on the green lawns of his Secretariat, where his quarterly press conferences are traditionally held. The president, who is usually a longwinded speaker, was unusually restrained, and some of his laconic but expressive answers caused quite a sensation.

The president responded to the question of whether he accepts the possibility that his former closest associate and today’s number- one opponent Davyd Zhvania took part in his poisoning: “I think, yes,” adding, “This is a mild form of response in order to preserve a balance between the law, the investigative bodies, and honest people.”

The president’s second epiphany was that he is convinced that Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will run in the presidential elections set for 2010. At the same time he underlined that he is “not interested in debates on this topic...I won’t meet anybody halfway. I won’t ask for preferences under the table. I won’t sign any public or non-public agreements. Let’s reject adventures!” Yushchenko said angrily. It was interesting to note that when the Ukrainian leader was commenting on the future presidential elections, he did not say a word about his own election plans, including program ones.

The third theme of yesterday’s briefing was a traditional one, with the president criticizing the economic and political course of the Tymoshenko-led government. “The government’s policies and those of the president should be synchronous. The coalition should share this policy and ensure its realization. I don’t like the fact that the country is living without a rational budget and in four months has not been able to find the strength to raise this question before parliament. And the reason for this is that a certain person wants the country to live without a renewed budget. This was not my wish.”

With regard to aspects of Ukraine’s foreign policy, the president’s responses were too laconic, and he vaguely hinted to our neighbors once again that the question of the withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet should be resolved in advance. “In my opinion, the topic of starting negotiations on the withdrawal the Black Sea Fleet from Ukraine should be on the agenda of our relations.”

President Yushchenko also mentioned France, which now holds the presidency of the European Union. Ukraine is ready to move to a new level of relations with the European Union - “more qualitative and dynamic, because our cooperation has been exceeding the limits of simple ‘neighborhood’ in many spheres.”

“We got a lot out of the ‘neighborhood’ policy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I are working on ways to consolidate this advantage, its interpretation, and ways to fill it with meaningful content for the long perspective. I think that the two next months will be intense,” the head of state summarized.

A day earlier, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed that an agreement on cooperation with Ukraine be signed already in September. But Belgium and the Netherlands categorically opposed this. Their main argument was that there is political instability in Ukraine, and Kyiv has not implemented a sufficient number of needed reforms.

Meanwhile, experts say that signing a document on cooperation in the first month of autumn would enable Ukraine to receive candidate status for EU membership. Thus, the president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the representatives of all branches of power have a lot of work ahead of them if the government truly wants Ukraine to become a full-fledged member of the European home, not just a temporary lodger without any rights.

The first step in this direction could already be taken today: to make a joint effort at making all talk in Europe and the rest of the world about Ukraine’s political crisis dissipate as quickly as morning fog.