KIEV, Aug. 31 – The inconsistency of President Viktor Yanukovych's policies may significantly delay the start of the talks on Ukraine's application to join the European Union, according to Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003.

In an article for the English-language Moscow Times newspaper, Havel said that the Ukrainian president's administration had not carried out the reforms required to meet the criteria for joining the EU.