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Amidst Separatist Conflict, Ukraine Signs Cooperation Agreement With Europe.

This article is more than 9 years old.

Ukraine has finally signed the Association Agreement with the European Union – an accord for closer economic and political ties with the EU and non-member countries. The country’s path to this milestone has been challenging—and tragic, as no other country reaching for that status has had to throw itself into the chaos of revolution, followed  by a war costing hundreds of lives.

The pact that Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s newly elected president, signed the pact on June 27th in Brussels opens up new opportunities in areas such as foreign and security policy, energy, industrial and enterprise strategy, macroeconomic stability, trade partnerships and visa liberalization. The signing doesn’t necessarily mean that Ukraine is to join the EU but it certainly binds Ukraine more tightly with the west.

Ukraine’s government has been negotiating the agreement since 2007 that was set to sign in November 2013. Former president Viktor Yanukovych’s unexpected decision to nix the document and turn East, to Russia under economic and political pressure (and, reportedly, Russia had offered $15 billion bailout package) sparked what would become a revolution that saw his ouster and the Kremlin’s controversial seizure of Crimea. Poroshenko, a billionaire known for his chocolate factories who took office in May, sealed the Association Agreement deal this morning.

A recent poll released by Ilko Kucherov Democratic Initiatives Foundations on June 26th shows that 53% of Ukrainians support the EU integration, with 35.5% against it and 11,6% undecided.

Two other former Soviet republics, Moldova and Georgia, have decisively moved in the European direction as well, despite pressure from Russia in the form of export bans and custom restrictions. Georgia and Moldova each confirmed their western trajectory and signed an association agreement, following years of negotiation, reforms and resisting Russia’s economic group with Belarus and Kazakhstan, known as the Customs Union.

What was meant to be a historic moment for Ukraine – moving away from its Soviet past and towards what is generally perceived as a democratic future and free market economy – has been overshadowed by uncertainty over Donbass, the area where a violent struggle against Russia-backed separatists place over past months.  According to the United Nations, 423 people have lost their lives in the melee between April 15 and June 20.

They say the darkest hour is just before the dawn. Hopefully for Ukraine, this move towards Europe will be worth the killing and tragedy.