With President Petro Poroshenko slipping in the polls a week ahead of elections, Ukraine's government is trying to put a brave face on his achievements, insisting it is well on its way to delivering on the demands of the Maidan protest movement that drove the previous Russia-backed president from power in 2014.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin insisted that Ukraine has Russia on its knees, and that his country is making good progress toward taking its place among Western European democracies.
"Ukrainian society five years after Maidan is ripe enough ... to fight for an independent democratic and European country, and for me part of this future is of course our membership in the European Union, in NATO," he said. "Ukraine is already part of the trans-Atlantic community. It should formally become part of this trans-Atlantic community."
Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2019. With President Petro Poroshenko slipping in the polls a week ahead of elections, Ukraine’s government is trying to put a brave face on his achievements, insisting it is well on its way to delivering on the demands of the Maidan protest movement that drove the previous Russian-backed president from power in 2014. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky)
A war with Russia-backed forces in eastern Ukraine, along with Russia's annexation of the Crimea Peninsula, has stalled many of Ukraine's European ambitions. But Klimkin insisted the standoff is hurting Moscow more than Kiev.
"Look at the economic development in Russia: no growth. Look at their societal development. Look at Russian demography. Russia is going nowhere under current conditions," he said. "And I believe that quite soon the Russian leadership will have simply to face this fact."
Ukrainians will vote for a new president on March 31, with a likely second round in April. Poroshenko is trying to get re-elected, but a deep recession, endemic corruption and a war with Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 10,000 people are weighing heavily on his ambitions.
Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2019. With President Petro Poroshenko slipping in the polls a week ahead of elections, Ukraine’s government is trying to put a brave face on his achievements, insisting it is well on its way to delivering on the demands of the Maidan protest movement that drove the previous Russian-backed president from power in 2014. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky)
Klimkin acknowledged that the government has made less progress than it would like.
"We have to do better with reforms here in the country. We have to do better with transforming our justice system. We have to do better with tackling corruption," he said. "But if you ... compare current Ukraine with Ukraine five years ago, right after Maidan, it's completely a different country."
He insisted that the corruption scandals won't deter the West from sending aid or weapons to help Ukraine — "I'm sure it will not" — and described EU and NATO membership as a "midterm exercise."
Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin gestures, during an interview with The Associated Press in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2019. With President Petro Poroshenko slipping in the polls a week ahead of elections, Ukraine’s government is trying to put a brave face on his achievements, insisting it is well on its way to delivering on the demands of the Maidan protest movement that drove the previous Russian-backed president from power in 2014. (AP PhotoEfrem Lukatsky)
"I'm not saying it will come tomorrow or after tomorrow. We have to be honest. It's not a short-term exercise, but it will come," he said. "Let's be clear: We are not ready now. We are not ready either for EU membership or for full NATO membership. We need to do more in the sense of reforms and in the sense of getting our security and defense sector up to the standards."
But he described the project as inevitable.
"Ukrainians will not tolerate any kind of back off or veering off from this fundamental force," he said, adding of the presidential candidates: "If someone tries to become more pro-Russian, he or she will be thrown out of the office the next day."
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.
Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war.
“The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the European Union is not willing to accept a terrorist organization will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.
Brieger said that he’s asking EU members to provide the necessary resources to the EU mission dubbed Aspides — Greek for “shields.”
He said that it’s the first time that the EU has launched a naval operation in a hostile environment that's twice the size of the 27-nation bloc, calling it a “litmus test” that the bloc will pass successfully.
The commander of an EU naval mission in the Red Sea, Greek Rear Adm. Vasilios Gryparis, wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission, but only four frigates are patrolling an area twice the size of the bloc.
The EU mission was established in February to defend civilian vessels and doesn't take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
The attacks have hit maritime trade to Egypt and Europe, with only around half the usual number of ships moving through the area. It’s added up to two weeks of transit time for vessels that want to avoid the Suez Canal, hiking transport costs and shipping insurance.
The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end the wear. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.
Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of U.S.-led retaliatory airstrikes.
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
