“UKRAINE IN A SORRY STATE”, EU

BRUSSELS, July 12, 2005 (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday bemoaned a political crisis in Ukraine, saying the country was "in a sorry state" and deserved better government.

Erkki Tuomioja, the foreign minister of Finland, which holds the six-monthly EU presidency, told the European Parliament Ukraine was making it more difficult for the European Union to engage with the country.

"But we will certainly do so; it is strategically important," he said. "It is important for the Ukrainians."

"Ukraine is in a sorry state ... I believe the Ukrainians deserve a better government than they seem to be getting at the moment," Tuomioja said.

Ukraine has been in crisis since inconclusive elections three and a half months ago left it without a fully fledged government and parliament little more than a year after the "Orange Revolution", whose leaders became darlings of the West.

That euphoria was short-lived and efforts to form a coalition by groups behind the revolution that propelled President Viktor Yushchenko to power collapsed this month.

An alternative was hastily assembled, led by the Regions Party of Viktor Yanukovich, the president's rival in the 2004 election in the revolution's aftermath.

While facing the prospect of a government of his adversaries, Yushchenko has vowed to accept no big changes to his programme of moving into the European mainstream.

Yushchenko set his sights on early EU membership after the pro-Moscow government was ousted in 2004 but Ukraine currently falls under the European Union's Neighbourhood Policy, which holds out the prospect of closer economic ties, not membership.

EU leaders have in the past year become more downbeat about the pace of future enlargement after numerous polls showed concern among EU citizens about its impact on their jobs.