KIEV, Sept. 17 – Ukraine's signing the Association Agreement with the European Union will help strengthen security in the Eastern Europe, Ukrainian Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Leonid Kozhara said.

"I'm confident that the signing by Ukraine and the EU of the Association Agreement, despite all of the pessimistic forecasts, will be an important factor for security in the Eastern European region, and that in future it will certainly contribute to the harmonization of relations between the EU, Ukraine and Russia," Kozhara said at an international conference entitled "The Role of International Organizations in Ukraine's National Security."