Ukraine and Slovakia: Time for Decisions
Ukrainian Premier Viktor Yushchenko’s visit to Slovakia was quite busy, judging from the range of issues broached; also probably a fruitful one, but this will become clear later. Although Mr. Yushchenko had to cut his visit short on December 6 due to Verkhovna Rada’s hearings of the budget bill, both sides found time to deal with quite a number of problems and plans, including better trade and economic cooperation (a traditional subject of any summit). The Ukrainian Prime Minister said he was sure that the Ukrainian-Slovak trade turnover would reach $340 million by the end of the year, which is more than last year’s but much less than three or four years ago.
His Slovak counterpart, Mikula s я Dzurinda, emphasized Slovakia’s interest in the Odesa-Brody-Gdansk project that has been under study for several years (a process that could last God knows how long). He is convinced that it is a “global and promising” project in terms of oil supplies to Western Europe. Viktor Yushchenko, according to UNIAN, stated that the Odesa-Brody-Gdansk project must be carried out by all means, otherwise projects will come forth that are “outside our interests.” At the same time, the Slovak government made perfectly clear its interest in the bypass project being actively promoted by Russia, which envisions oil deliveries to Western Europe via Belarus, Poland, and Slovakia, leaving out Ukraine.
Another important issue discussed and likely to be finally settled before long (unlike those mentioned above), related to simplified Ukrainian-Slovak visa procedures. Bratislava unilaterally annulled visa-free entry for Ukrainian citizens in July, causing a series of unpleasant consequences. Unofficial sources point to the Slovak budget losing almost 70% receipts, mainly in the tourist business. As for the problems now facing Ukrainian visitors, hardly any comment is required. That was probably why the Slovak and Ukrainian Premiers agreed on the formation of an ad hoc small intergovernmental committee to revise the Slovak border passage procedures for Ukrainian nationals.
By and large, the summit, as well as latter-day Ukrainian-Slovak relations revealed the broadening gap between the two countries. Slovakia’s progress in European integration increasingly often makes Bratislava abide by proposals from Brussels in its contacts with Kyiv. Experience shows that such proposals do not often agree with those of Ukraine and Slovakia (the visa procedures being a good example).
