Former European top official criticizes EU over Georgia and Ukraine policy

A former European top official is slamming the European Union’s policy towards aspirant countries as "totally irrational” and claims Germany needs to take its share of responsibility and hold itself accountable for the Ukraine crisis.

Former European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule criticized the EU’s policy towards Ukraine, Georgia and other Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and said the EU did not open its doors to Ukraine, which with other factors, resulted in the regional crisis.

In an interview with German news website Spiegel Online, the Czech politician noted not only the Russian leader should be held responsible for Ukraine having failed to sign its Association Agreement (AA) with the EU one year ago, but also with European countries, particularly Germany, as they refused to open the door to the EU to this country.

"How can one tell Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova that integration into the Eurasian Union is something totally incompatible with their aspiration to get closer to the EU and at the same time, refuse to open the door to the EU to them?,” Mr Fule asked.

He added that at the end of 2013, Germany as well as other countries refused to create some prospects to Ukraine and other EaP countries and as a result of this, they created a buffer zone similar to that "sanitary cordon” that was formed during World War I, in Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union. "We, in fact, have told Ukraine that we are sorry that you have such an unbeneficial geographic location. We are sorry but you can neither move towards the East nor to the West,” Fule said.

He said such behaviour was "totally irrational” and it made him "really sad.”