Interfax: Superiority complex lets down EU in its relations with Ukraine – Pushkov

MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) – The European Union did not have enough strength and willingness to help Ukraine recover from an economic crisis and to convince Kyiv to sign the association agreement, State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov said.

“Why did the EU set such unattractive conditions for signing the association agreement for Ukraine and make political demands on top of it? I think that the West still has a complex of superiority over certain states, including those in Eastern Europe,” he told a press conference in Moscow on Monday.

“The West has convinced itself that it is an ideal model and people chasing this European myth have to automatically accept anything the EU may offer,” he suggested.

As to the financial dimension of EU-Ukraine relations, Pushkov recalled that Kyiv had asked the European Union for $20 billion to support its economic stabilization.

“The sum of $20 billion requested by [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych from the European Union to help Ukraine recover from the financial crisis is not a colossal sum. In fact, it is rather small. They spent ten times more than that on Greece. Yet the EU declined to take that path,” the parliament member said.

“Why? First of all, I repeat that they have a superiority complex and believe that [the offer] will be accepted as it is, and, secondly, they simply do not have the money. The EU has spent a lot on the recovery of its members from the crisis,” he concluded.