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EU-Ukraine deal not confer candidate status: EU leaders

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

European Union (EU) leaders on Thursday agreed at a summit that the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine does not confer candidate status for Ukraine.

According to the conclusion of the summit, "the agreement does not confer on Ukraine the status of a candidate country for accession to the Union, nor does it constitute a commitment to confer such status to Ukraine in the future."

In June 2014, Ukraine and the EU signed the Association Agreement, which includes a free trade area, designed to deepen bilateral cooperation between the sides.

In an advisory referendum on April 6, a vast majority of the Dutch voters rejected the Agreement, hindering the ratification of the agreement.

European leaders' decision aimed at pushing the Netherlands, the only country in the 28-nation EU still blocking the process, to ratify the agreement.

Dutch voters opposed the deal out of the worry that the agreement is possible a step towards or an entitlement to membership of the EU for Ukraine.

The conclusion also said that, the agreement does not contain an obligation for the union or its member states to provide collective security guarantees or other military aid or assistance to Ukraine. Endit