Crisis in Lisbon treaty ratification should not slow down Ukraine’s movement to Europe, say YES summit discussion participants

Such opinion has been stated by the participants of "The Future of the European Union" discussion, held within the Plenary Session of the 5th annual Yalta European Strategy summit.

Aleksander Kwasniewski, the President of Poland in 1995-2005, thinks the institutional problems within EU in relation to Ireland's refusal to ratify the Lisbon treaty are not a new phenomenon and not able to tear up the foundations of European unity. "Europe has its problems, but as well Europe has many chances as well", he mentioned.

Ex-President of Poland does not agree on the opinion that European Union is experiencing crisis. For Ukraine, it is exactly European integration that is viewed as the most attractive variant today. "We may respect Russia for its good economical performance, but the country also has problems with freedom of democratic institutions, as well as with migration and other things. I want to say that European Union is a very interesting organization for Ukraine".

According to European politicians' opinion, after implementing the necessary reforms Ukraine may become the EU member, since European Union should not isolate itself within the present borders. "We do not need the new demarcation lines within Europe", emphasized Mikulas Dzurinda, Prime Minister of Slovakia in 1998-2006. "We need a closer cooperation in the security sphere, we need more reforms. The more reforms Ukraine implements, the sooner it becomes the EU member".

As was informed, Yalta is hosting the the 5th annual summit of international Yalta European Strategy (YES) network, the greatest and the most influential non-governmental forum for Ukraine and European Union issues. More than 160 politicians, businessmen, public characters, diplomats and journalists from more than 20 countries of the world shall take part in the Summit. The Summit will continue working until July, 13. The Plenary Sessions will be traditionally held in Livadia Palace.
Among the participants of the 5th annual organization Summit are Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia; Marek Siwiec, Vice President of the European Parliament; Aleksander Kwasniewski, the President of Poland in 1995-2005; Mario David, Vice-President of European People's Party; Victor Chernomyrdin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ukraine; key strategists of the leading USA political parties - Karl Rove, the republican, and Bob Shrum, the democrat.
Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair, the British politician and public leader, the Prime Minister of the Great Britain in 1997-2007, will be the special guest of the Summit to speak at Vision of Europe and Ukraine Plenary Session on July, 12.
The Ukrainian state at the Summit will be presented by Arseniy Yatseniuk, the Head of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Raisa Bogatyrova, the Secretary of National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine; Vice Prime Minister on European and International Integration Grygoriy Nemyria.

Yalta European Strategy (YES) is an independent international organization, uniting the famous politicians, business and public opinion leaders, and journalists, with the aim of reforming Ukraine and provision of support to its entering the European Union. The organization was created by Victor Pinchuk, Ukrainian businessman and public figure, in July, 2004. 
Annual YES Summits in Yalta act as communication ground to discuss and develop political and economic strategies for Europe and Ukraine. Since the year 2004, William J. Clinton, the 42nd President of the USA; Gerhard Shroeder, the German Chancellor (1998-2005); Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995-2005), Victor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, and other personalities took part in Summits' work.

Besides annual summits, YES acts as initiator and organizer of public opinion surveys, forums and discussions on actual Ukraine-European Union relations issues, provides public opinion polls in EU countries concerning the European integration perspectives of Ukraine.