KIEV, Jan. 25 - Accession to the European Union is better for Ukraine in the long run than the Customs Union, but the country's European aspirations are hampered by its political persecutions, says Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the Batkivschyna opposition faction in Parliament.

"The European market is much larger, and there are large investments there. There are many more issues that we can resolve in the EU than those that can be resolved within the [Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian] Customs Union. The European Union is a better association, and I want Ukraine to join a better association," the Front for Changes party led by Yatseniuk quoted him as saying at a Ukrainian lunch conference in Davos on Friday.