EU warns Ukraine to stay on reform track or risk landmark deal

Recent "disturbing" political developments in Ukraine could stand in the way of a landmark political association and free trade deal with the European Union, the bloc's enlargement commissioner warned Wednesday, dpa reported. "If we want to sign the association agreement - and I'm convinced we do as it is in our shared interest - the way forward for the authorities is not through bringing more and more disturbing news," Stefan Fule told the European Parliament. Kiev hopes that the agreement - half a decade in the making and the first of its kind between the EU and an eastern neighbour - will be signed in November at an Eastern Partnership summit in Lithuania. Two weeks after an EU-Ukraine summit in Brussels, developments in Ukraine "continue to present us with a paradox," Fule said, praising the "constructive atmosphere" of the summit and Kiev's "unequivocal commitments" to address democratic shortcomings and concerns over selective justice. "Meanwhile there are a number of developments which go contrary to the commitments taken at the summit," the commissioner added.