9 March 2005

BERLIN - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday called for his country to be given swift membership in the European Union during a state visit to Germany.

"I see Ukraine in a unified Europe in the not too distant future," said a clearly upbeat Yushchenko in a rare address by a foreign head of state to the German Parliament.

Yushchenko said his "roadmap" for European Union (EU) membership saw Kiev being granted associate status in 2007. After this date, negotiations for full membership should begin, he added.

The Ukrainian leader predicts his country will enter the EU as a full member well before 2016 - a view which many in Brussels view with some scepticism.

At an earlier briefing with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Yushchenko set out another milestone in his timetable by saying he "assumed" the 25-nation EU would formally declare the Ukraine a "market economy" this year - a key step on the path to accession.

He also predicted Kiev would be admitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by the end of 2005.

Chancellor Schroeder pointedly refused to set any timetable for Ukrainian EU membership and said this was up to the European Commission.

"It would be totally wrong to agree a date in bilateral talks," said Schroeder after being asked by reporters if he had given Yushchenko a concrete EU target date.

Instead, Schroeder pledged to support Kiev's moves toward what he more vaguely termed "the Euro-Atlantic structures."

Yushchenko, whose reformist government came to power on the wave his country's Orange Revolution last year, insisted that EU membership had been a core demand of demonstrators in Kiev.

But he stressed Ukraine's bid to join the EU and NATO was not aimed at Russia which had initially opposed him.

"Russia is the eternal strategic partner of Ukraine," vowed Yushchenko.

Earlier, Chancellor Schroeder announced the creation of a high- level group with officials from the German and Ukrainian economics ministries to target key bilateral projects in order to expand trade relations.

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