KIEV, Sept. 14 – The European Union told Ukraine Friday to quickly form a government after the Sept. 30 election and to focus on economic and political reforms needed for boosting cooperation with the 27-nation bloc.

A high-ranking European delegation visited Kiev for a bilateral summit two weeks before the vote, which is supposed to resolve the sharp political crisis that has been plaguing Ukraine for the past six months.

The crisis was caused by increasing confrontation between pro-Western president and the Moscow-friendly prime minister that had struggled for control over the country’s foreign policy.

"It is important to achieve stability so that Ukraine can concentrate its energy and efforts on reforms, both economic and political," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference after summit talks with Ukrainian leaders.

"We are certain that after the election we will have successful cooperation with Ukraine in order to help Ukraine consolidate and intensify its progress," he said.

President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whose rival parties will be battling for victory at the snap election, both attended the summit.

The EU’s urge to quickly form the government after the election underscores concerns within the bloc that the process may be again stalled for months.

Last year, pro-Western parties have been unsuccessfully holding talks for 4.5 months after the March 26 election eventually leading to the creation of the pro-Russian coalition that had challenged Yushchenko.

Yushchenko, reacting to those concerns, assured EU leaders on Friday that the government will be formed quickly and will take on the most important reforms.

“There is no technical problem in forming the majority and the government,” Yushchenko said. “I am convinced that these things will be done quickly, based on political results of the election.”

Shortly afterwards, Viktor Baloha, Yushchenko’ chief of staff, who has been also managing campaign for Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group, issued a statement saying parties will need “several hours” to form the pro-Western government.

“The entire procedure will take several hours, not more, and the newly formed government will start its work,” Baloha said citing opinion polls suggesting that pro-Western groups will win majority of seats in Parliament.

“It is being forecast with confidence that Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc will win the majority of votes,” Baloha said.

The latest opinion poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives and Ukrainian Sociology Service and released Friday, showed that pro-Western parties may actually outperform the pro-Russian ones.

Yanukovych’s Regions Party was backed by 34.7% of respondents that were likely to got to polling stations, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc’s 25.7% and by Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense’s 11.9%, according to the poll.

The centrist group led by former Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn would score 3.3% and the pro-Moscow Communist Party would score 2.7%, according to the poll.

The poll was conducted among 2,012 respondents across Ukraine between Sept. 1 and Sept. 10 with margin of error at 2.2%, according to the agencies. (tl/ez)