KIEV, March 20 – President Viktor Yanukovych will travel to Poland on Friday – the second such trip in 30 days - as the European officials seek clues on whether Ukraine is committed enough for closer integration.

Yanukovych will meet his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski, who will be also joined by Hungarian President Janos Ader, according to report by the Polish presidency.

Darka Chepak, Yanukovych’s spokeswoman, on Wednesday confirmed the trip will take place.

Yanukovych will travel to see a soccer match as Poland is hosting Ukraine, but his meetings with Komorowski and Ader are supposed to focus on European integration issues.

Komorowski, known as a major backer of Ukraine’s EU integration, also remains one of few European leaders that have been still communicating with Yanukovych.

Many European leaders appear to have lost confidence in Yanukovych after he had repeatedly promised, but failed, to release jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Tymoshneko’s imprisonment – for abuse of power when she was the prime minister - is seen in Europe as an act of selective justice that has been rather aimed at eliminating a political rival.

Last time Komorowski invited Yanukovych to Poland for talks on February 21, just days before the Ukrainian leader was due to travel to Brussels for a summit with EU leaders. Komorowski was joined by Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic.

At the summit, EU leaders gave Ukraine three months – through the end of May – to implement steps that would indicate the country’s commitment for the European interaction.

The successful implementation of the steps, which many believe include releasing of Tymoshenko, would open way for the EU to sign a key political association and free trade agreement with Ukraine in November.

The failure to implement the steps would most likely delay the agreement for years, potentially pushing Ukraine towards closer integration with Russia.

What puzzled and perhaps even angered the European leaders is that days after the summit in Brussels, a Kiev court had stripped the head of Tymoshenko’s legal defense team, Serhiy Vlasenko, of his seat in Parliament.

The controversial move effectively strips Vlasenko of immunity from prosecution, making his vulnerable to arrest, and generally weakens Tymoshenko’s defense team at a crucial point when she is facing life in prison for her alleged involvement in a murder of a prominent politician in 1996. She denied any involvement and said the case was politically motivated.

The move was seen by opposition lawmakers in Ukraine as a clear indication that Yanukovych had not been intending to promote the reforms that would ensure closer integration with the EU. (tl/ez)