OREANDA-NEWS. June 05, 2012.  Ukraine should be a reliable bridge between Europe and Russia, and create all the conditions necessary for the efficient movement of goods and capital between the two, President Viktor Yanukovych said at “The Future of European Integration” session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia 2012 in Istanbul.

Viktor Yanukovych said that Ukraine is studying closely the work of the Customs Union. Today, he said, Ukraine has to think of how to build its relations with this new economic organization because the share of its member states share in our country’s foreign trade is 30%. "We are not changing our priorities, we are just looking at it closely," he said.

The President also stressed that for Ukraine, European integration is not about “joining the elite club", but making the necessary transformations back at home to meet its high standards. He added that lately, the idea of further EU enlargement has become unpopular in the EU slowing down the progress of Ukraine and Turkey in joining the EU. "In our opinion, this policy is not right, although the current pause might do good both Ukraine and Europe," the President said.

Viktor Yanukovych said that even if for now Ukraine cannot go to Europe, we should still be trying to "build Europe" back at home: improve our legislation, bring technical standards to the European level, etc. The President noted that Ukraine has the appropriate program and is actively moving in this direction.