The Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU could be signed before the Eastern Partnership summit, which is scheduled for this November in Vilnius.

State Secretary at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Zsolt Nemeth said this after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, a UKRINFORM correspondent in Hungary reported.

"The next Eastern Partnership summit will be held during Lithuania's presidency of the EU this November, and there's a chance to sign by this time the agreement on association and a free trade area with Ukraine - a key country of the Eastern Partnership policy," Nemeth said.

The Hungarian state secretary also noted that Ukraine must fulfill certain conditions, in particular, with regard to the transparency of elections.

As reported, the conclusions of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, which were adopted at a meeting in Brussels on February 18, note that the Association Agreement could be signed at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November if Ukraine makes progress in three key areas, in particular, "ensuring the compliance of elections with international standards and appropriate follow-up actions for the 2012 elections; addressing the issue of selective justice and preventing its recurrence; and implementing the reforms set out in the jointly agreed Association Agenda."

Ukrinform