ODESA, FEBRUARY 28th, 2012, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE — Vice Governor of Odesa Region MR Oleksandr Malin has said European integration to be the only one possible potential direction for Ukraine to follow, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

The official said it today, 28 February, during the fifth meeting of the Working Group Regional Measuring of the European Integration Strategy of Ukraine: Regional Development and Interregional Cooperation, of the National Convention of Ukraine regarding the EU on The Black Sea Region of Ukraine: the Inter-Regional Cooperation as a Platform for Cooperation with the EU Regions.

“If talk about the current situation in the country, then, of course, European integration is the principal potential direction for Ukraine to follow. If the full range of views prevailing in our country is taken into consideration, this will be one of the two main ones. And it is no secret that that complex geopolitical situation of choice for further integration, which now faces the direction of the state, has no direct solution. The situation is complicated, heavy, and now a potentially possible solution is in the process of developing”, said the Vice Governor.

“It is very important we should properly distribute the roles between the executive authorities at various levels, and it is essential that regional initiatives fit very well as the tactical elements of a national strategy worked out by European integration. Therefore, events like today’s one, which is designed to study in detail the theoretical developments, developed by the Institute of Strategic Studies under the advice of our foreign assistance to colleagues and partners are very important and we need to understand the role of local government, the role of local bodies of executive power in this general process. Our experience allows us to judge the possible options for such a place outlining the local authorities... We look forward to those developments and the overall concept, which should develop the Institute for Strategic Studies. We are ready to take it as a call to concrete action and we are ready to implement this general program. Time we have a little bit and need to hurry”, said Malin.