The EU s talks with Ukraine on a proposed Association Agreement, for example, provide some leverage, which the EU should not hesitate to use.

This November, at its Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, the EU will decide on whether to proceed with an Association Agreement with Ukraine.

WASHINGTON The European Union s most important decision this fall will be whether to sign an Association Agreement with Ukraine at the EU summit in Vilnius on November 28 29.

The EU Turkey relationship began with an association agreement signed in 1963.

The new EU Ukraine agreement should include a beefed up solidarity clause, building on the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, whereby the EU would consult and assist Ukraine in case of challenges to its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Although the Association Agreement does not lead automatically to EU membership, it is an important step in that direction.

The EU should also be encouraged to be more forthright in agreeing to an Association Agreement and free trade area.

The easiest option would be conditional liberalization of trade in services within the existing framework of the EU Israel Association Agreement.

Reinforcing this shift is Turkey s drift toward authoritarianism, which is undermining the viability of its candidacy for EU membership. As for Ukraine, recent gestures of solidarity, such as the signing of an association agreement, are unlikely to develop into anything substantial in the foreseeable future.

Ukraine is a long way from achieving this, but signing an Association Agreement would pave the way toward entry talks, while also creating tremendous economic opportunities.

It was logical that Poland was the spiritus rector of the EU s Eastern Partnership, which led to EU association agreements with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. No other country has a stronger interest in the successful transformation of the EU s eastern neighbors, particularly Ukraine.

For the EU, Ukraine continues to be a serious problem.

a greater EU commitment to Ukraine to safeguard its independence

Now Ukraine, where President Viktor Yanukovych s decision not to sign an association agreement with the European Union has mobilized millions of protesters, represents Russia s moment of truth. While many cheer the Euromaidan, many others insist that Ukraine must maintain close ties with Russia.

The already concluded free trade agreement with the EU would offer Ukraine badly needed market access and increased exports, but the EU will not ratify it unless Tymoshenko is released and repression of the opposition and media ceases.

The Association Agreement, which runs to some 1,200 pages, would remove almost all EU tariffs on Ukrainian goods, boosting the country s long term GDP by an estimated 12 .

If accepted, it promises Ukraine, which aspires to EU membership and is currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the Union, the stable, effective, and democratic government that it needs.

The place to start is Ukraine. Fortunately, the EU Ukraine summit on September 9 in Evian, France, provides the perfect opportunity.

Equally wrong is the view that Turkey s Association agreement of 1963 holds little relevance for its membership in the EU because at the time the Community s character was purely economic.

First Georgia, then Ukraine, and most recently Moldova have all been big EU hopes.

Unsurprisingly, Yanukovych has consistently stated his preference for an Association Agreement.

Serbia started the process of joining the EU by signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement on 29 April 2008 and officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009.

Fortunately, the EU Ukraine summit on September 9 in Evian, France, provides the perfect opportunity.

Under the Treaty of Rome, Ukraine, as a European country, qualifies as a potential EU member.

But two countries essential to this trade Turkey and Ukraine are increasingly estranged from the EU.

That explains why some EU member states are keen to resume the negotiations on a Stabilization and Association Agreement, which were suspended a year ago due to Serbia s failure to cooperate fully with the ICTY.

Russia and Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, China blocked efforts to reach an agreement.

They come from EU member states and non EU countries that also take part in our operations, including Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine, Turkey and the United States.

Working with the Belarusian association of journalists, this independent media outlet will broadcast from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and perhaps Ukraine.

Europe should go beyond defining its relationship with Ukraine as a neighbor it should clearly state that Ukraine has a realistic chance of entry into NATO and the EU.

The decision to appoint Ukraine and Poland as co hosts was a powerful symbol of European unity across the current EU border (Poland is a member, Ukraine is not).

For Ukraine, Europe can help by embracing the free trade agreement that we are now negotiating.

Where appropriate, the EU should extend these measures to Moldova, which is now calling Ukraine a strategic shelter.

Unfortunately for the EU, this year s annual summit with Ukraine (on November 22) will likely showcase this failure.

First, the EU should work to Finlandize Ukraine, whose foreign policy, like Tito s, is now officially non aligned.

Where appropriate, the EU should extend these measures to Moldova, which is now calling Ukraine a strategic shelter.

Approximately 150 million people in South eastern Europe the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Turkey aim at becoming EU citizens.

Unfortunately, instead of reaching out to endangered nations like Ukraine, the EU beacon remains dark and its leaders silent.

We will also sign a far reaching free trade agreement with the EU.

We are working on a new Association Agreement, which would anchor Moldova in the European space.

Labelled by the US as part of the axis of evil, Syria has also seen Saudi financial aid dry up and fears that the trade benefits that would come with ratification of its Association Agreement with the EU will never materialize.

Ukraine also agreed to implement the relevant EU energy directives as part of its membership of the European Energy Community.

But two countries essential to this trade Turkey and Ukraine are increasingly estranged from the EU. For Turkey, tensions reflect the lack of progress on the country s application for EU membership.

Therefore the real results of this EU agreement on climate funding remain to be seen.

EU member States recently agreed to support the G 8 agreement to write off debt.