Press Release: Leaders look forward to a new phase in EU- Ukraine relations

On 9 September, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso will travel to Paris for the 12th annual EU-Ukraine Summit. He will be accompanied by the Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and by the Commissioner for External Trade, Peter Mandelson. Ukraine will be represented by President Viktor Yushchenko accompanied by Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko. Just a day prior to the summit the EU and Ukraine had reached an important understanding on the title of the new agreement, which will now be called an 'Association Agreement'. The summit will be an opportunity to mark the considerable progress made in the course of the year in negotiations on this agreement. Furthermore, the summit will see the launching of a visa dialogue with the long term perspective of establishing a mutual visa-free regime between the EU and Ukraine. The leaders look forward to a renewed and strengthened relationship with Ukraine.

European Commission: MEMO/08/556: EU-Ukraine relations http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/556&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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