title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 5 October 2009, the Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on issues of European integration Borys Tarasiuk commented "the EU see the implementation of a free visa regime for Ukrainians travelling to member states of the European Union only as a long-term prospect". Ukrainian politicians continue to insist that the implementation of that free visa regime take place by 2012, when the European Football Championship will be held in Ukraine and Poland. According to Tarasiuk, the main obstacles to the implementation of a free visa regime between Ukraine and EU is the fact that Ukraine "hasn't finished its work on legislation concerning forming a demographic [database], which then could become a good basis for issuing biometric passports" and the fact that there is no general database on the issuing of foreign passports to Ukrainian citizens. According to Tarasiuk the EU fear that this grants the opportunity for mass falsification.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 16 December 2009, the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated "our Ukrainian friends need to do more if they want us to help them more." He also stated that "enlargement is not possible in the current situation."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine is one of six post-Soviet nations to be invited to cooperate with the EU within the new multilateral framework that the Eastern Partnership is expected to establish. However, Kyiv pointed out that it remains pessimistic about the "added value" of this initiative. Indeed, Ukraine and the EU have already started the negotiations on new, enhanced political and free-trade agreements (Association and Free-Trade Agreements). Also, there has been some progress in liberalising the visa regime despite persistent problems in the EU Member States' visa approach towards Ukrainians.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: That is why Ukraine has a specific view of the Eastern Partnership project. According to the Ukrainian presidency, it should correspond, in case of his country, to the strategic foreign policy objective, i.e. the integration with the EU. Yet, the Eastern Partnership documents (the European Council Declaration of May 2009) do not confirm such priorities as political and economic integration or lifting visas.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine has expressed enthusiasm about the project. Ukraine deputy premier Hryhorii Nemyria said that the project is the way to modernise the country and that they welcome the Eastern Partnership policy, because it uses 'de facto' the same instruments as for EU candidates.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Under the Eastern Partnership, Poland and Ukraine have reached a new agreement replacing visas with simplified permits for Ukrainians residing within 30 km of the border. Up to 1.5 million people may benefit from this agreement, which took effect on 1 July 2009.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In May 2010, President Viktor Yanukovych promised to adopt in June 2010 the legislation necessary for creating a free trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union (EU). Yanukovych expected visas between Ukraine and EU member states to be abolished and that a free trade zone will be created by March 2011.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The Azarov Government continued to pursue EU-integration. During May and June 2010, both Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryshchenko stated that integration into Europe has been and remains the priority of domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The policies of the Azarov Government do not exclude EU integration, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Štefan Füle stated on 12 May 2010.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: "An action plan for Ukraine toward the establishment of a visa-free regime for short-stay travel" between the European Council and Ukraine was agreed on 22 November 2010. This roadmap requests major improvements in Ukrainian border control, migration and asylum policies.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Attempts to change the French constitution are currently being carried forward in order to remove the compulsory referendum on all EU accessions of countries with a population of more than 5% of the EU's total population; this clause would apply to Ukraine and Turkey.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The EU Association Agreement (AA) was initialed on 30 March 2012 in Brussels; but as of November 2012 the 27 EU governments and the European Parliament had yet to sign the accord. The treatment and sentencing (considered by EU leaders as a politically motivated trial) of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko have strained the relations between the EU and Ukraine. The European Union and several of its member states, notably Germany, have been pressuring Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and his Azarov Government to halt the detention of Tymoshenko in fear of her degrading health. Several meetings with Yanukovich have been deserted by EU leaders, including the German president Joachim Gauck.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: At the request of opposition politicians in Ukraine, EU government officials boycotted the UEFA Euro 2012 soccer championship in Ukraine. EU leaders have suggested that the AA, and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, will not be ratified unless Ukraine addresses concerns over a "stark deterioration of democracy and the rule of law", including the imprisonment of Tymoshenko and Yurii Lutsenko in 2011 and 2012.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: A 10 December 2012 statement by the EU Foreign Affairs Council "reaffirms its commitment to the signing of the already initialed Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, as soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate determined action and tangible progress in the three areas mentioned above, possibly by the time of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013". These three areas are: "Electoral, judiciary and constitutional reforms (in line with international standards are integral parts of it and commonly agreed priorities)".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, Ukraine's Ambassador to the EU, responded in February 2013 by rejecting any preconditions by the EU for signing the AA. However, on 22 February 2013 a resolution was approved by 315 of the 349 registered members of the Verkhovna Rada stating that "within its powers" the parliament would ensure that 10 December 2012 EU Foreign Affairs Council "recommendations" are implemented. At the 16th EU-Ukraine summit of 25 February 2013, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy followed up on the December 2012 EU Foreign Affairs Council statement by reiterating the EU's "call for determined action and tangible progress in these areas – at the latest by May, this year".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The same day President Yanukovych stated Ukraine will "do its best" to satisfy the EU's requirements. At the time President Yanukovych was also in negotiations with Russia to "find the right model" for cooperation with the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. But also on 25 February 2013, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso made it clear that "one country cannot at the same time be a member of a customs union and be in a deep common free-trade area with the European Union".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: To coordinate preparation of Ukraine for European integration, the Government of Ukraine has adopted a Plan on Priority Measures for European Integration of Ukraine for 2013. Successful implementation of the plan is assumed as one of the conditions necessary for signing of the Association Agreement, planned for 29 November 2013 during Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In March 2013, Stefan Fuele, the EU's Commissioner for Enlargement, informed the European Parliament that while Ukrainian authorities had given their "unequivocal commitment" to address the issues raised by the EU, several "disturbing" recent incidents, including the annulment of Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhii Vlasenko's mandate in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament), could delay the signing of the agreements. However, the next day the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its optimism that they would still be signed in November.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 7 April 2013, a decree by President Yanukovych freed Lutsenko from prison and exempted him, and his fellow Minister in the second Tymoshenko Government Heorhii Filipchuk, from further punishment.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 3 September 2013, (at the opening session of the Verkhovna Rada after the summer recess) President Yanukovych urged his parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine will meet the EU criteria and it can sign the Association Agreement in November 2013.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 25 September 2013, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Rybak stated that he was sure that his parliament would pass all the laws needed to fit the EU criteria for the Association Agreement since, except for the Communist Party of Ukraine, "The Verkhovna Rada has united around these bills".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 20 November 2013, EU's Commissioner for Enlargement Fuele stated he expected that the Verkhovna Rada would consider and adopt the remaining bills necessary for the signing of the association agreement, planned for 29 November 2013, the next day.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 21 November 2013, the Verkhovna Rada failed to pass any of the six motions on allowing former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment abroad, which was an EU demand for signing the association agreement. The same week Tymoshenko had stated that she was ready to ask the EU to drop the demand for her freedom if it meant President Viktor Yanukovych would sign the association agreement. The same day a Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing of association agreement; instead it proposed the creation of a three-way trade commission between Ukraine, the European Union and Russia that would resolve trade issues between the sides. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov issued the decree in order to "ensure the national security of Ukraine" and in consideration of the possible ramifications of trade with Russia (and other CIS countries) if the agreement was signed on a 28–29 November summit in Vilnius.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The suspension of the association agreement signature initiated a wave of protests that would ultimately overthrow Viktor Yanukovych and his government.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 2 December 2013, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso agreed to meet with a delegation from Ukraine to discuss closer ties with the EU but stated there would be no re-opening of negotiations on the proposed Association Agreement. The same day First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhii Arbuzov announced that Ukraine planned to sign a "roadmap" with the EU. "I'm not talking about the conditions of the association but about the conditions we planned to resolve before signing and after signing". Ukraine and the EU started "conducting technical preparations for the upcoming dialogue between Ukraine and the EU on certain aspects of the implementation of an Association Agreement" on 5 December 2013. However, on 15 December Fuele said that the Ukrainian government's negotiating position had "no grounds in reality" and that they were suspending further talks. Barroso said "We are embarked on a long journey, helping Ukraine to become, as others, what we call now, 'new member states'. But we have to set aside short-term political calculations."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 17 December, Ukraine signed a treaty with Russia under which Russia will buy $15 billion of Ukrainian Eurobonds and the cost of Russian natural gas supplied to Ukraine will be reduced, though Putin stated that "today we have not discussed the issue of Ukraine joining the Customs Union [of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia] at all". Three days later, high ranking EU-officials stated that the EU is still ready to sign the Association Agreement "as soon as Ukraine is ready for it", that the agreement was also beneficial for Russia and that the EU "is totally not concerned about the fact that Ukraine is signing agreements with Russia". On 23 December 2013, Russian presidential aide Yurii Ushakov stated "there is no contradiction" in Ukraine's association with the EU and their observer status in the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 20 December 2013, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) Volodymyr Rybak did not rule out the possibility of signing an Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU without the creation of a free trade area (FTA). On 24 December 2013, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara stated that "at the present time" his Ministry's "and other government agencies' efforts are focused on further negotiations with the EU to provide conditions for implementing the association agreement". He added that "Ukraine will resume the negotiations on this agreement after the holidays" and that the text of the Association Agreement itself would not be changed, but that Ukraine intended to focus on the issues related to its implementation.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 15 January 2014, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov gave an interagency (ministries and other agencies) working group two months to draw up a plan "on conditions of the implementation of the Association Agreement" for negotiations with the EU.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Viktor Yanukovych and his government were removed from their post by parliament after the 2013–2014 Ukrainian revolution in February 2014. The ouster of Yanukovych plunged Ukraine into the 2014 Crimean crisis and the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine. In March 2014, the EU condemned the Annexation of Crimea by Russia and Russia's "clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces". The EU also froze (and tried to recover) "misappropriated Ukrainian state funds" and froze assets and blocked entry into the EU of Russians and Ukrainians deemed responsible for the unrest in Ukraine. The political part of the Association Agreement was signed on 21 March 2014 by new Prime Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk, with the remaining parts of the agreement concerning free trade being deferred pending May elections. Customs duties for Ukrainian exports to the EU were temporarily removed in April 2014. Financial help was also promised to Ukraine. Ukraine was granted a macro-financial aid bilateral loan of one billion Euro in May 2014. Following the election, new President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the European Union signed the economic part of the Association Agreement on 27 June 2014. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy described the signing as a "great day for Europe". Signatory (then new) President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko called it "Ukraine is underlining its sovereign choice in favour of membership of the EU", and also described it as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards EU membership. Poroshenko also set 2020 as a target for an EU membership application. As the Voice of America reported on 27 June, "Terms of the EU agreements require Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine not enter into similar free trade agreements with the Kremlin." On 16 September 2014, the Verkhovna Rada approved the draft law on ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which was signed the same day by President Petro Poroshenko.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Same year, EU and Ukraine, upon Ukrainian Government's request, agreed to establish European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine), which is a civilian Common Security & Defence Policy mission of the EU for Ukraine's civilian security sector reform that formally began operating in Ukraine on 1 December 2014. EUAM Ukraine, employing over 300 personnel working in main headquarters in Kyiv, as well as in field offices in Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa and a Mobile Unit today, provides strategic advice and practical support to Ukrainian counterparts. By working with a number of law-enforcement and rule of law agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Police, National Anti-Corruption Agency, State Border Guard Service, State Bureau of Investigations to name but a few), EUAM Ukraine aims to make civilian security sector more efficient, transparent and enjoying public trust.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The 17th EU-Ukraine summit took place on 27 April 2015 in Kyiv. During an Eastern Partnership summit in Riga in May 2015, EU agreed on a €1.8 bln loan to Ukraine. On 1 January 2016, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU entered into force. By April 2016, the Association Agreement had been ratified by Ukraine and all EU member states except the Netherlands, which held a referendum on approval of the treaty. Following the rejection of the agreement in the referendum, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said that ratification would be put on hold during negotiations with the other parties to the treaty to find a compromise. In December 2016, a decision of the heads of state or government of the EU member states was approved which made legally binding interpretations of the agreement to address the concerns raised in the referendum. In particular, it stated that it did not commit the EU to grant Ukraine EU membership candidate status, provide security guarantees, military of financial aid, or free movement within the EU. The decision would enter into force if the Netherlands ratified the agreement, which needed to be approved by its parliament. In late January 2017, the Dutch government introduced a bill to confirm approval of the agreement. The Dutch House of Representatives approved the bill on 23 February 2017. The Senate approved the bill on 30 May 2017.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: During the 23rd Ukraine-European Union Summit, on 12 October 2021, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, the Vice President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Slovenia to Ukraine Tomaž Mentsin signed an agreement between Ukraine and the European Union and its member states on the Common Aviation Area.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 27 April 2022, the EU Commission proposed to temporarily drop all its tariffs on imports from Ukraine to help Ukrainian industry weather Russian aggression.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 29 May 2022, in order to support Ukraine's path to the European future, in particular to obtain the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union on 25–26 June 2022, the Government of Ukraine launched a communication campaign «Embrace Ukraine. Strengthen the Union».


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The political dialogue between the EU and Ukraine started in 1994 when the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was signed. That document was focused on economic and social issues as well as on the necessity of improving public government and guaranteeing free press and civil rights. The framework set for political discussions was modest: yearly meeting between EU Troika and Ukrainian leadership and some inter ministerial consultations. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 entered into force in 1998 and expired in 2008. None of the top level meetings brought any major changes to a reserved EU approach. Leaders focused chiefly on economic transition and human rights records as well as on issues connected to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its containment.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: sources: Wayback Machine, European Commission - Press release - European Neighbourhood Policy: A year of progress, ENP official page EEAS - European External Action Service


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: A "Joint EU–Ukraine Action Plan" was endorsed by the European Council on 21 February 2005. It was based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 and provided, according to the European Commission, a comprehensive and ambitious framework for joint work with Ukraine in all key areas of reform.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The Eastern Partnership is a forum aiming to improve the political and economic trade-relations of the six Post-Soviet states of "strategic importance" – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia with the European Union. The EU draft of the EaP states that: "Shared values including democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights will be at its core, as well as the principles of market economy, sustainable development and good governance." The Partnership is to provide the foundation for new Association Agreements between the EU and those partners who have made sufficient progress towards the principles and values mentioned.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine is one of six post-Soviet nations to be invited to cooperate with the EU within the new multilateral framework that the Eastern partnership is expected to establish. However, Kyiv pointed out that it remains pessimistic about the "added value" of this initiative. Indeed, Ukraine and the EU have already started the negotiations on new, enhanced political and free-trade agreements (Association and Free-Trade Agreements). Also, there has been some progress in liberalising the visa regime despite persistent problems in the EU Member States' visa approach towards Ukrainians.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: That is why Ukraine has a specific view of the Eastern Partnership Project. According to the Ukrainian presidency, it should correspond, in case of his country, to the strategic foreign policy objective, i.e. the integration with the EU. Yet, the Eastern Partnership documents (the European Council Declaration of May 2009) do not confirm such priorities as political and economic integration or lifting visas.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine has expressed enthusiasm about the project. Ukraine deputy premier Hryhorii Nemyria said that the project is the way to modernise the country and that they welcome the Eastern Partnership policy, because it uses 'de facto' the same instruments as for EU candidates.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Under the Eastern Partnership, Poland and Ukraine have reached a new agreement replacing visas with simplified permits for Ukrainians residing within 30 km of the border. Up to 1.5 million people may benefit from this agreement which took effect on 1 July 2009.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: An Association agreement (AA) between Ukraine and the EU was negotiated from 2009 to 2011, and should replace the existing PCA. The AA aims for political association and economic integration, includes a "deep and comprehensive free trade area", and runs parallel to the negotiations for a visa-free regime. It does not contain a membership perspective for Ukraine, though it recalls it as "a European country with European identity" and says that "the EU acknowledged the European aspirations of Ukraine".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 16 June 2009, a new practical instrument was adopted – the "EU-Ukraine Association Agenda". 19 December 2011 EU-Ukraine summit, which was intended to lead to the signature of the Agreement, fell short due to the EU's concerns over the jailing of former premier Yulia Tymoshenko. The end of negotiations were announced, but the text of the agreement was not signed with EU leaders deciding to wait until the October 2012 Parliamentary elections as a test of the vitality of democracy and rule of law in Ukraine. The AA was initialed shortly thereafter, on 30 March 2012. Before it enters into force it must be ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament, the European Parliament, and each EU member state. However, EU leaders have suggested that the agreement will not be ratified unless Ukraine addresses concerns over a "stark deterioration of democracy and the rule of law", including the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yurii Lutsenko in 2011 and 2012. In November 2012, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule stated that the AA, and DCFTA, could be signed in November 2013 if the EU's concerns were addressed.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: However, in February 2013 Fule warned Ukraine that the agreements could be abandoned if the required reforms are not made quickly. He also stated that Ukrainian membership in the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia would be incompatible with the agreements with the EU.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: While work on signing a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU first began in 1999, formal negotiations between the Ukrainian government and the EU Trade Commissioner were not launched until 18 February 2008 . As of May 2011 there remained three outstanding issues to be resolved in the free trade deal: quotas on Ukrainian grain exports, access to the EU's services market and geographical names of Ukrainian commodities. Aside from these issues, the deal was ready. Despite those outstanding issues, Ukraine was ready to sign the agreement as it stood. Although it wanted stronger wording on enlargement prospects and access to the EU market for its truckers, Ukraine had more than many other candidates at the equivalent stage of the process. The finalised agreement was initialed on 19 July 2012. Ratification of the DCFTA, like the AA, has been stalled by the EU concerns over the rule of law in Ukraine. This includes the application of selective justice, as well as amending electoral laws. As a result, the role of Ukrainian oligarchs in sanctioning the agreement was also questioned.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: If Ukraine would choose the agreement, the Eurasian Economic Commission's Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia would withdraw from free trade agreements with the country, according to Russian presidential advisor Sergei Glazyev. However, on 21 November 2013 a Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing the agreement that was scheduled to be signed during a 28–29 November 2013 EU summit in Vilnius, and it was not signed. The decision to put off signing the association agreement led to 2013–2014 Ukrainian revolution.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: EU sanctions against Russia related to its military intervention in eastern Ukraine have been extended until July, 2016. On 1 January 2016, the DCFTA entered into force.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 22 November 2010, the European Council and Ukraine announced "an action plan for Ukraine toward the establishment of a visa-free regime for short-stay travel". This roadmap outlined major improvements in Ukrainian border control, migration and asylum policies. According to "The Wall Street Journal", for the EU, "the visa-free regimes are a key tool for binding their neighbors closer and for advancing reforms in those countries". Negotiations for an amendment to the 2007 Visa Facilitation agreement, which expanded the subset of individuals eligible for simplified visa procedures to include students, NGO representatives and holders of official passports, were finalised in December 2011, and the Visa Facilitation Agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada on 22 March 2013. On 18 April 2013, the European Parliament followed suit, and the European Council finalised the agreement on 13 May 2013.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In December 2011, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych expected negotiations for full visa-free travel to be completed by the end of 2014. The European Commission stated in November 2013 that Ukraine must strengthen its anti-discrimination laws before the visa-free regime is established. The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) adopted the remaining four bills needed for the transition to the second (implementation) phase of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan in May 2014 (including bills on improving anti-discrimination laws). When addressing MPs before the vote on these bills Verkhovna Rada Chairman and acting President Oleksandr Turchynov predicted then that "the visa-free regime will be introduced by the end of this year". However, Ukraine should have adopted bills that addresses for six conditions needed for the fulfilment of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan before 15 December 2015. On that day the EU will decide whether the country will get the visa-free regime in 2016. In December 2015, the Commission issued a progress report that found that Ukraine met all the conditions for its citizens be granted visa free travel to the Schengen Area.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The European Commission formally proposed Ukraine be granted visa free travel in April 2016. This was later delayed by the EU, postponing the possible date of an agreement to September 2016. The Committee of Permanent Representatives gave its approval in November 2016. Visa-free scheme, that will allow Ukrainians with a biometric passport to visit the Schengen Area for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period, would come into force once it is agreed and formally adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council. In December, the EU agreed that European Commission or an EU state will be able to suspend the visa waiver for Ukrainians for up to nine months in case of emergencies such as if "[Ukraine fails] to cooperate in taking back illegal migrants, there's a spike in the number of asylum applications, or a security issue arises". The visa-free regime deal was agreed by the EU Parliament and Council on 28 February 2017, approved by the MEPs on 6 April and by the European Council on 11 May. It entered into force on 11 June 2017.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Both Ukraine and all EU member states are signatories of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), a legally-binding treaty negotiated following the 1991 "Energy Charter" political declaration of principles for international energy including trade, transit and investment. The ECT was signed in December 1994 and came into effect in April 1998. Ukraine and all EU member states are also signatories of the 1998 Trade Amendment reflecting the change from the GATT to the WTO.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: After its entry into force, Ukraine held an Observer status for the Treaty establishing the Energy Community (also referred as "European Energy Community"), a community established between the European Union (EU) and a number of third countries in order to extend the EU internal energy market to South East Europe and beyond. The Treaty establishing the Energy Community was signed in Athens, Greece, on 25 October 2005, and entered into force on 1 July 2006. Ukraine soon expressed its interest in full membership. Mandated by the Energy Community Ministerial Council, the European Commission had the first round of formal negotiations with Ukraine in late 2008. After three negotiation rounds, the technical negotiations with Ukraine were concluded in 2009. The Ministerial Council, however, made the membership conditional on legislative amendments. In concrete, it requested Ukraine to revise its gas law so that it complies with EU's Gas Directive 2003/55/EC. Following the amendment of the gas law in July 2010, Ukraine signed the Energy Community Accession Protocol on 24 September 2010, ratified the Treaty on 15 December 2010 and officially acceded the Energy Community on 1 February 2011.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to Eurostat, between 2000 and 2007 EU trade in goods with Ukraine more than tripled in value: exports rose from 5.5 bn Euro to 22.4 bn, while imports increased from 4.8 bn Euro to 12.4 bn. Nevertheless, this increase did not make Ukraine one of the EU's major trading partners. In 2007, Ukraine accounted for only 2% of EU exports and a mere 1% of European Union imports which is toward the bottom of the EU's top 20 trading partners (16th).


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to the European commission paper, trade with Ukraine is dominated by manufactured goods. Nearly half of the EU exports to Ukraine in 2007 were machinery and vehicles and a further quarter were other manufactured articles. A quite similar structure can be seen in imports: unspecified manufactured articles accounted for two-fifths followed by a crude metal for a further fifth. At the more detailed level, the main EU exports to Ukraine in 2007 were medicine, motor vehicles and mobile phones, while the main imports were iron and steel products, as well as sunflower seed oil, ferro-nickel, iron ores and oil.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Among the EU27 Members States, Germany (5.9 bn Euro or 26% of EU exports) was the largest exporter, followed by Poland (4.1 bn or 18%). Italy (2.4 bn or 19%) was the largest importer followed by Bulgaria (1.6 bn or 13%) and Germany (1.3 bn or 11%).


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: The largest surpluses in trade with Ukraine in 2007 were observed in Germany (+ 4.6 bn Euro) and Poland (+2.8 bn Euro) while Bulgaria scored the highest deficit ( -1.4 bn Euro).


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: For the 2000–2006 budgetary period, the financial assistance of the EU to Ukraine was framed in the Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) programme. Established in 1991, TACIS is a programme of technical assistance that supports the process of transition to market economies for the 11 CIS countries and Georgia.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: For the 2007–2013 budgetary period the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) covers the ENP countries, and replacing the TACIS funds for Ukraine.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine is eligible for horizontal instruments, that cover countries regardless of their region, such as:


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Since 2009, with the accession of Ukraine to the World Trade Organization, economic relations between the EU and Ukraine have to respect the WTO normative acquis. The EU has always believed that WTO membership can play a key role in supporting Ukraine's economic reform, especially in the context of a transition economy. In joining the WTO, Ukraine benefits from secure access to the markets of all WTO members and commits to providing the kind of stable trade and investment environment that will attract further trade and investment.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In a November 2014 poll by Rating joining the EU was supported by all but two Oblasts of Ukraine (provinces); in Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast (an area known as Donbass) people preferred Ukraine's accession to the Eurasian Customs Union.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Traditionally Western Ukraine is found to be generally more enthusiastic about EU membership than Eastern Ukraine. In July 2012 and in May 2014 residents of West Ukraine (74% in July 2012 and 81% in May 2014), Central Ukraine (59% and 64%) and North Ukraine (56% and 71%) were the biggest supporters for EU membership. A June 2013 poll, on behalf of Deutsche Welle, found that 52% of Eastern Ukraine was in favor of joining the EU. But in a poll by ComRes (for CNN) in May 2014 only 19% of Eastern Ukraine considered Ukraine joining the European Union "Good". The Deutsche Welle poll was limited to respondents no older than 65 years in cities with more than 50,000 people. The May 2014 ComRes poll found out that in the three most eastern Oblasts of Ukraine (provinces), Kharkiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast, 37% favored an alliance with Russia, 14% backed an alliance with the European Union and 49% stated Ukraine would be better off if it did not ally with either.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Citizens aged between 20 and 39 appeared to be the strongest supporters of joining the EU in May 2010 and December 2011 (in December 2011 the opinion of the age group 18–29 did not vary from one region to another). In the May 2014 ComRes poll people aged between 36 and 55 where the strongest supporters of joining the EU.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Ukraine's EU ambassador, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, stated in July 2011 that business tycoons and politicians from Ukraine's Russian speaking east were as much pro-EU as the Ukrainian speaking west of the country: "If any politician today in Ukraine declared himself to be against European integration, he would be politically dead."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to a poll conducted in February 2015 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea, 66.4% would have voted in favor of joining the EU and 33.6% against with a turnout of 76.4%.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: 91% of Ukrainians support joining the European Union during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a poll conducted by the Rating Sociological Group on 30–31 March 2022.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In 2002, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenther Verheugen said that "the European perspective for Ukraine does not necessarily mean membership in the next 10-20 years, although it is possible." To join the European Union, the applicant state must meet the political and economic conditions commonly known as the Copenhagen Criteria (adopted at the Copenhagen Summit in 1993), namely a democratic government that recognizes the rule of law and relevant freedoms and institutions. According to the Maastricht Treaty, each current Member State, as well as the European Parliament, must agree on any enlargement.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Obtaining the status of a full member of the EU as a strategic goal of Ukraine was first declared by President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko immediately after his election in early 2005. On 13 January 2005, the European Parliament almost unanimously (467 in favor, 19 against) adopted a resolution on the European Parliament's intentions to converge with Ukraine on membership. The European Commission notes that, although a certain preparatory period has yet to pass, the admission of new members is not ruled out. To which President Yushchenko responded with his intention to apply for membership "in the near future."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Several influential EU leaders at the time expressed support for improving ties with Ukraine. In particular, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld stated on 21 March 2005 that Poland would support Ukraine's European integration aspirations under any circumstances. In particular, he said: "At this stage, we should focus on concrete steps of cooperation instead of empty talks about pan-European cooperation." Three days later, a survey in the six largest EU countries showed the commitment of EU citizens to accept Ukraine as a full member in the future.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In October 2005, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that "Ukraine's future is in the EU." However, on 9 October 2005, the European Commission, in a new version of the Development Strategy Paper, stated that the implementation of enlargement plans (Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republics) could block the accession of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU should avoid "too much enlargement", stressing that the current enlargement plan looks complete.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Although Ukrainian officials and political scientists mentioned several specific dates for possible membership, only Ukraine's European Neighborhood Policy has been officially proposed to Ukraine by the EU so far. The presidential administration has been critical of the proposed status of neighborhood relations.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In March 2007, Ukraine was offered a Free Trade Agreement with the EU. Although this proposal provoked a much stronger reaction from the Ukrainian state, it did not contain specific plans for Ukraine's accession to the EU in the near future. Some Western European politicians have spoken of the temporary "fatigue of enlargement" of European institutions. Ukrainian observers identify the so-called "resistance group" of Ukraine's accession to the EU. In particular, when concluding the text of the Enhanced Agreement between Ukraine and the EU in March 2007, references to the prospect of membership were excluded from it. "Any mention of the prospect of Ukraine's accession to the European Union has been excluded from the draft enhanced Ukraine-EU agreement due to France's position," wrote the influential German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Italy's position depends on the domestic political situation of this country. Thus, during the election campaign in this country, the government of Silvio Berlusconi gave diplomatic signals that he was ready to support Ukraine's European integration aspirations. His political opponent Romano Prodi, on the other hand, said that "Ukraine's prospects for joining the EU are the same as in New Zealand."


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: According to the Eastern Partnership policy, Ukraine can become a member of the European Union. On 27 February 2014 the European Parliament passed a resolution that recognized Ukraine's right to "apply to become a Member of the Union, provided that it adheres to the principles of democracy, respects fundamental freedoms and human and minority rights, and ensures the rule of law". The European Parliament notes that in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty with the EU, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, like any other European country, have a European perspective and can apply for EU membership in accordance with the principles of democracy, - said in a resolution of the European Parliament in Brussels, adopted at the last session before the elections to the European Parliament, which took place on 23–25 May 2014. 27 June 2014 The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso stated that the Association Agreement is the beginning of Ukraine's accession to the EU. On the same day, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele stated that he believed in Ukraine's future membership in the EU.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In March 2016, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated that it would take at least 20–25 years for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO. In June 2018, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said he expects Ukraine will join the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation by 2030.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: At the X session of the Ukraine-Poland-Lithuania Interparliamentary Assembly, which ended on 8 June 2019 in Kyiv, the parties signed a final document containing an agreement on the strategy of 2025 and 2027 as a period for Ukraine's possible accession to the EU. In 2027, when Lithuania will hold the EU presidency for the second time, the issue of Ukraine will be the main issue on the agenda. If this opportunity is not used, the next "window" will open in 2039, when Poland will preside over the EU and Lithuania will preside only in 2041.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 23 July 2020, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine created a tripartite platform for political, economic, cultural and social cooperation - the Lublin Triangle, which aims to support Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: In February 2021, the leader of the presiding Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Armin Laschet, who was considered a likely successor to Angela Merkel as Chancellor of Germany, supported the idea of EU enlargement and giving Ukraine a European perspective:The question of Ukraine's accession to the EU does not arise at the moment, but it will inevitably arise in the future. We must support Ukraine on its difficult path and at the same time open a European perspective.Quite a few experts believe that in times of deteriorating relations between Russia and the EU, Ukraine has a window of opportunity to join the European Union. Pavlo Klimkin noted that Ukraine still does not meet any criteria for joining the European Union, as it does not have an established democracy, rule of law and a full-fledged market economy. According to him, the first chance was lost in early 2005, when Yushchenko was persuaded not to apply, and in 2014 it was much more difficult to do so.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 11 February 2021, the European Parliament published a report on Ukraine's success in implementing the Association Agreement with the European Union. The document highlights both the main successes of Ukraine on this path, as well as failures or moments that hinder the reform process in the country. In general, the European Union is not yet ready to officially talk about the prospects of Ukraine's accession to the ranks of member states, but Ukraine's European perspective is recognized. In 2021, Ukraine was preparing to formally apply for EU membership in 2024, in order to join the European Union in the 2030s.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, there were additional calls to start a formal accession process. Ukraine reiterated its desire to become a member of the union, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that Ukraine belongs in the European Union. Slovak prime minister Eduard Heger expressed support for an accelerated accession process.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 28 February, Ukraine officially submitted a letter of application for membership. Due to the ongoing crisis, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested immediate admission to the European Union under a special procedure. Eight EU states signed a letter supporting an accelerated accession process for Ukraine. On 1 March, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó stated his country would also support an accelerated process.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 1 March 2022, the European Parliament, following a debate in which the President of Ukraine addressed and received applause, recommended that Ukraine be made an official "candidate" for EU membership. The European Parliament has voted to advance Ukraine's membership with 637 voted for, with 13 voted against, and 26 abstained. On 2 March, however, Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares stated that "belonging to the EU is not a capricious process or one that can be done by a mere political decision", reminding that the candidate country "must meet certain social, political and economic standards".


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 7 March, the EU said it will formally assess Ukraine's application. On 8 April, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Kyiv. Von der Leyen presented president Zelenskyy with a questionnaire for membership. Borrell announced that the EU delegation to Ukraine, headed by Matti Maasikas, will return to Kyiv after it was evacuated at the outbreak of war. On 18 April, Ukraine completed the questionnaire. On 24 May, the Council of the European Union adopted a regulation enabling for temporary trade liberalisation with Ukraine, interrupting all tariffs under Title IV of the association agremeent, anti-dumping duties and the enforcement of common rules for imports.


title: Ukraine–European Union relations

text: On 17 June 2022, the EU Commission officially announced its recommendation to grant Ukraine an EU candidate status. On 23 June 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the immediate granting of candidate status for membership in the European Union to Ukraine. On 23 June 2022, the European Council granted Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Ghosts of Mars (titled onscreen as John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars) is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy. Set on a colonized Mars in the 22nd century, the film follows a squad of police officers and a convicted criminal who fight against the residents of a mining colony who have been possessed by the ghosts of the planets original inhabitants.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: The film received mostly negative reviews and was a box office bomb, earning $14 million against a $28 million production budget. The film would be John Carpenter's last feature until his return with "The Ward" in 2010.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: The film has received a cult following since its release, with critics praising the action sequences, soundtrack and blending of genres. Given the film's debt to Western cinema, particularly the works of Howard Hawks, it has been considered by a number of critics as an example of the Weird Western subgenre.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Set in the second half of the 22nd century, Mars has been 84% terraformed, giving the planet an Earth-like atmosphere. Martian society has become matriarchal, centring on the city of Chryse, with smaller, far-reaching outposts connected by an expansive network of trains. In the wake of a series of mysterious 'incidents', Mars Police Force officer Lt. Melanie Ballard is called before a tribunal to give testimony following a disastrous mission to the remote mining outpost Shining Canyon to retrieve convicted felon James 'Desolation' Williams of which she is apparently the sole survivor.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Through a series of flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks as new perspectives are incorporated into the narrative, Ballard recounts her mission to Shining Canyon. Accompanied by commanding officer Helena Braddock, cocky sergeant Jericho Butler and rookie officers Bashira Kincaid and Michael Descanso, Ballard arrives at Shining Canyon to find the town seemingly deserted. Investigating the town's jail, Braddock discovers a trio of individuals who appear to have sealed themselves into one of the cells; among them science officer Dr. Arlene Whitlock.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Ballard and Butler discover a number of disoriented miners and an escaped Desolation. The group are soon attacked by several of the miners, forcing Ballard and Desolation to band together and incapacitate them. Ballard is forced to shoot and kill one of them, causing their affliction to be passed on to one of the three survivors. Butler, venturing out to the edge of town in pursuit of one of the feral miners, discovers a row of severed heads mounted on spikes, including the head of Commander Braddock, and a large assembly in the canyon below committing horrific acts of self-mutilation and ritualistic execution.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Desolation's associates soon arrive and force Ballard and Butler to release him. While they originally plan on leaving the officers and remaining miners to die, Ballard convinces them to work together to survive. Their initial effort to escape is halted when the army of feral miners converge on their position, killing, injuring and infecting several of their number. Confronted by Ballard, Whitlock eventually explains that she fled from her post after discovering an ancient underground vault created by an extinct Martian civilisation. When the door to the vault was opened, it released hostile spirits or "ghosts", which took possession of the workers, causing their violent behaviour. Killing a possessed human merely releases the Martian spirit to possess another host. Ballard surmises that these Martian spirits believe humans to be an invading race. Ballard is briefly possessed until Desolation feeds her a hallucinogenic drug, which forces the Martian spirit to leave her body.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: The group are forced to flee as the possessed workers breach the jail, leaving only Ballard, Desolation, Butler, Kincaid and Whitlock left alive. While they are able to make it to the train, Ballard realises that they have a duty to exterminate the Martian threat and decide to return to Shining Canyon to overload the outpost's nuclear power plant, assuming that the ensuing atomic blast will vaporise the spirits. While they are able to initiate the meltdown, Whitlock is possessed, while Butler, Kincaid and the two train operators are killed. Boarding the train, the two watch as the army is engulfed in the explosion. Desolation tends to Ballard's wounds. Unwilling to face the authorities, he handcuffs Ballard to her cot and leaves. She moves to shoot him, but realizes her respect for him and lets him make his escape.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Resting after her tribunal, Ballard is woken by an alert that the city is under attack. Realizing their attempt to destroy the spirits failed, she readies herself to face the onslaught alone until she is greeted by Desolation, who hands her a weapon. The two agree to fight their way out of the city together.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: It has been widely reported that the script to "Ghosts of Mars" originally started off as a potential Snake Plissken sequel. However, this rumor has been publicly dispelled by the film's producer, Sandy King Carpenter.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Michelle Yeoh, Franka Potente and Famke Janssen were the first choices for the role of Melanie Ballard, but they turned it down. Courtney Love was originally cast, but she left the project after her boyfriend's ex-wife ran over her foot in her car while she was in training for the picture. Natasha Henstridge replaced her by the suggestion of her boyfriend Liam Waite. Jason Statham was originally going to play Desolation Williams, but he was replaced by Ice Cube because the producers needed some star power for the part, and Statham instead played the character of Jericho Butler.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Although Mars has a day/night cycle almost identical in length to Earth's, most of the film is set at night. Mars is shown only once in the daytime, in a flashback when a scientist describes how she found and opened a tunnel, unleashing the alien spirits.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Filming began on August 8, 2000, and ended on October 31, 2000. Production had to be shut down for a week when Henstridge fell ill due to extreme exhaustion, as she had just done two other films back-to-back before joining production at the last moment.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Much of the film was shot in a New Mexico gypsum mine. The pure white gypsum had to be dyed with thousands of gallons of red food dye to recreate the red Martian landscape.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: John Carpenter revealed after the movie's failure that he had become inspired and driven after he had made "Ghosts of Mars", and decided to leave Hollywood for good.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: "Ghosts of Mars" received mostly negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 22% based on 108 reviews, with the consensus stating "John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars" is not one of Carpenter's better movies, filled as it is with bad dialogue, bad acting, confusing flashbacks, and scenes that are more campy than scary." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called the film "a schlocky, sluggish shoot-em-up", giving the film one star out of five, and later listing the film as the 3rd worst film of the year. Marc Savlov of "The Austin Chronicle" gave the film one star out of five, saying "Ghosts of Mars is a muddled, derivative, and embarrassing disaster straight on through." Bruce Fretts of "Entertainment Weekly" said about the film "...it's distressingly amateurish and hackneyed to the point of absurdity," further adding "it's dishearting to see the 'master of horror' bring himself to both write and direct a film with such a prepubescent understanding of horror". James Berardinelli gave the film 1.5 stars out of four. Rob Gonsalves of eFilmCritic.com suggested that the film was symbolic of "Carpenter at rock bottom". According to press reviews, factors contributing to the box office failure of the film included "poor set designs, hammy acting and a poorly developed script".


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Conversely, Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times", gave the film three stars out of four, writing, ""Ghosts of Mars" delivers on its chosen level and I enjoyed it, but I wonder why so many science-fiction films turn into extended exercises in Blast the Aliens...this is an instance where it works." Richard Roeper also awarded the film three stars out of four, saying "is it stupid? Certainly. I think that's the point. Carpenter is a smart man and he knows exactly what he's doing. I miss seeing campy action flicks like this at the drive-in." David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz, film critics for "The Movie Show", both awarded the film three stars out of five. In his review, Stratton made the following observation – "John Carpenter doesn't seem to have moved forward from the 70s and early 80s, when he made his best films. Though it's not terribly exciting, "Ghosts Of Mars" does have a marvelously skewed vision and can deliver genuine morbid laughs when it wants to."


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Ice Cube was very critical about the movie: "I don't like that movie. I'm a big fan of John Carpenter and the only reason I did it was because John Carpenter directed it but they really didn't have the money to pull the special effects off."


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: Responding to the criticism towards the film, Carpenter stated he was intentionally trying to make "Ghosts of Mars" as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as possible. He claimed he was trying to make a mindless and silly, yet highly entertaining and thrilling, action flick where "the universe allows its characters and plot points to be silly without becoming full-fledged comedies", akin to 80s movies like "Commando", "", and "Predator". Looking back on the film and its criticism, he stated he was frustrated that most people thought the film was meant to be a serious horror movie, and feels that he should've made the film more openly comedic and "in on the joke", saying "I have no power over what critics say, but when people complained about the movie being campy and not scary...the name of the movie is Ghosts Of Mars, I figured the campiness would be self-explanatory."


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: The film opened at No. 9 in the North American box office in its opening weekend (8/24-26) with $3,804,452, grossed $8,709,640 in the North American domestic box office, and $5,301,192 internationally, totaling $14,010,832 worldwide. On a budget of $28 million, "Ghosts of Mars" was a box office disappointment.


title: Ghosts of Mars

text: For the film's soundtrack, John Carpenter recorded a number of synthesizer pieces and assembled an all-star cast of guitarists (including thrash metal band Anthrax, virtuoso Steve Vai, genre spanning Buckethead, and former Guns N' Roses/current Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck) to record an energetic and technically proficient heavy metal score. Reaction to the soundtrack was mixed; many critics praised the high standard of musicianship and the strong pairing of heavy metal riffs with the film's action sequences, but complained about the overlong guitar solos, the drastic differences between the cues used in the film and the full tracks and the absence of any of the film's ambient synth score from the soundtrack CD.


title: Oil spill

text: An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spills penetrate into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spills can have disastrous consequences for society; economically, environmentally, and socially. As a result, oil spill accidents have initiated intense media attention and political uproar, bringing many together in a political struggle concerning government response to oil spills and what actions can best prevent them from happening.


title: Oil spill

text: Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged vulnerable ecosystems in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, France, the Sundarbans, Ogoniland, and many other places. The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (e.g., "Deepwater Horizon" Oil Spill, "Atlantic Empress", "Amoco Cadiz"), but volume is a limited measure of damage or impact. Smaller spills have already proven to have a great impact on ecosystems, such as the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill because of the remoteness of the site or the difficulty of an emergency environmental response.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spills in the Niger Delta are among the worst on the planet. Between 1970 and 2000, there were over 7,000 spills. Between 1956 and 2006, up to 1.5 million tons of oil were spilled in the Niger Delta.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spills at sea are generally much more damaging than those on land, since they can spread for hundreds of nautical miles in a thin oil slick which can cover beaches with a thin coating of oil. These can kill seabirds, mammals, shellfish and other organisms they coat. Oil spills on land are more readily containable if a makeshift earth dam can be rapidly bulldozed around the spill site before most of the oil escapes, and land animals can avoid the oil more easily.


title: Oil spill

text: An oil spill represents an immediate negative effects on human health, including respiratory and reproductive problems as well as liver, and immune system damage. Oil spills causing future oil supply to decline also effects the everyday life of humans such as the potential closure of beaches, parks, fisheries and fire hazards. The Kuwaiti oil fires produced air pollution that caused respiratory distress. The "Deepwater Horizon" explosion killed eleven oil rig workers. The fire resulting from the Lac-Mégantic derailment killed 47 and destroyed half of the town's centre.


title: Oil spill

text: Spilled oil can also contaminate drinking water supplies. For example, in 2013 two different oil spills contaminated water supplies for 300,000 in Miri, Malaysia; 80,000 people in Coca, Ecuador. In 2000, springs were contaminated by an oil spill in Clark County, Kentucky.


title: Oil spill

text: Contamination can have an economic impact on tourism and marine resource extraction industries. For example, the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill impacted beach tourism and fishing along the Gulf Coast, and the responsible parties were required to compensate economic victims.


title: Oil spill

text: The threat posed to birds, fish, shellfish and crustaceans from spilled oil was known in England in the 1920s, largely through observations made in Yorkshire. The subject was also explored in a scientific paper produced by the National Academy of Sciences in the US in 1974 which considered impacts to fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The paper was limited to 100 copies and was described as a draft document, not to be cited.


title: Oil spill

text: In general, spilled oil can affect animals and plants in two ways: dirесt from the oil and from the response or cleanup process. There is no clear relationship between the amount of oil in the aquatic environment and the likely impact on biodiversity. A smaller spill at the wrong time/wrong season and in a sensitive environment may prove much more harmful than a larger spill at another time of the year in another or even the same environment. Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing their insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water.


title: Oil spill

text: Animals who rely on scent to find their babies or mothers cannot do so due to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned, leaving the babies to starve and eventually die. Oil can impair a bird's ability to fly, preventing it from foraging or escaping from predators. As they preen, birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers, irritating the digestive tract, altering liver function, and causing kidney damage. Together with their diminished foraging capacity, this can rapidly result in dehydration and metabolic imbalance. Some birds exposed to petroleum also experience changes in their hormonal balance, including changes in their luteinizing protein. The majority of birds affected by oil spills die from complications without human intervention. Some studies have suggested that less than one percent of oil-soaked birds survive, even after cleaning, although the survival rate can also exceed ninety percent, as in the case of the "MV Treasure" oil spill. Oil spills and oil dumping events have been impacting sea birds since at least the 1920s and was understood to be a global problem in the 1930s.


title: Oil spill

text: Heavily furred exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways. Oil coats the fur of sea otters and seals, reducing its insulating effect, and leading to fluctuations in body temperature and hypothermia. Oil can also blind an animal, leaving it defenseless. The ingestion of oil causes dehydration and impairs the digestive process. Animals can be poisoned, and may die from oil entering the lungs or liver.


title: Oil spill

text: In addition, oil spills can also harm air quality. The chemicals in crude oil are mostly hydrocarbons that contains toxic chemicals such as benzenes, toluene, poly-aromatic hydrocarbon and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemicals can introduce adverse health effects when being inhaled into human body. In addition, these chemicals can be oxidized by oxidants in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter after they evaporate into the atmosphere. These particulates can penetrate lungs and carry toxic chemicals into the human body.


title: Oil spill

text: Burning surface oil can also be a source for pollution such as soot particles. During the cleanup and recovery process, it will also generate air pollutants such as nitric oxides and ozone from ships. Lastly, bubble bursting can also be a generation pathway for particulate matter during an oil spill. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, significant air quality issues were found on the Gulf Coast, which is the downwind of DWH oil spill. Air quality monitoring data showed that criteria pollutants had exceeded the health-based standard in the coastal regions.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spills can be caused by human error, natural disasters, technical failures or deliberate releases. It is estimated that 30-50% of all oil spills are directly or indirectly caused by human error, with approximately 20-40% of oil spills being attributed to equipment failure or malfunction. Causes of oil spills are further distinguished between deliberate releases, such as operational discharges or acts of war and accidental releases. Accidental oil spills are in the focus of the literature, although some of the largest oil spills ever recorded, the Gulf War Oil Spill (sea based) and Kuwaiti Oil Fires (land based) were deliberate acts of war. The academic study of sources and causes of oil spills identifies vulnerable points in oil transportation infrastructure and calculates the likelihood of oil spills happening. This can then guide prevention efforts and regulation policies


title: Oil spill

text: Around 40-50% of all oil released into the oceans stems from natural seeps from seafloor rocks. This corresponds to approximately 600,000 tons annually on a global level. While natural seeps are the single largest source of oil spills, they are considered less problematic because ecosystems have adapted to such regular releases. For instance, on sites of natural oil seeps, ocean bacteria have evolved to digest oil molecules.


title: Oil spill

text: Vessels can be the source of oil spills either through operational releases of oil or in the case of oil tanker accidents. Operational discharges from vessels are estimated to account for 21% of oil releases from vessels. They occur as a consequence of failure to comply with regulations or arbitrary discharges of waste oil and water containing such oil residues. Such operational discharges are regulated through the MARPOL convention. Operational releases are frequent, but small in the amount of oil spilled per release, and are often not in the focus of attention regarding oil spills. There has been a steady decrease of operational discharges of oil, with an additional decrease of around 50% since the 1990s.


title: Oil spill

text: Accidental oil tank vessel spills account for approximately 8-13% of all oil spilled into the oceans. The main causes of oil tank vessel spills are collision (29%), grounding (22%), mishandling (14%) and sinking (12%), among others. Oil tanker spills are considered a major ecological threat due to the large amount of oil spilled per accident and the fact that major sea traffic routes are close to Large Marine Ecosystems. Around 90% of the world's oil transportation is through oil tankers, and the absolute amount of seaborne oil trade is steadily increasing. However, there has been a reduction of the number of spills from oil tankers and of the amount of oil released per oil tanker spill. In 1992, MARPOL was amended and made it mandatory for large tankers (5,000 dwt and more) to be fitted with double hulls. This is considered to be a major reason for the reduction of oil tanker spills, alongside other innovations such as GPS, sectioning of vessels and sea lanes in narrow straits.


title: Oil spill

text: Accidental spills from oil platforms nowadays account for approximately 3% of oil spills in the oceans. Prominent offshore oil platform spills typically occurred as a result of a blowout. They can go on for months until relief wells have been drilled, resulting in enormous amounts of oil leaked. Notable examples of such oil spills are Deepwater Horizon and Ixtoc I. While technologies for drilling in deep water have significantly improved in the past 30–40 years, oil companies move to drilling sites in more and more difficult places. This ambiguous development results in no clear trend regarding the frequency of offshore oil platform spills.


title: Oil spill

text: Pipelines as sources of oil spills are estimated to contribute 1% of oil pollution to the oceans. Reasons for this are underreporting, and many oil pipeline leaks occur on land with only fractions of that oil reaching the oceans. Overall, however, there has been a substantial increase of pipeline oil spills in the past four decades. Prominent examples include oil spills of pipelines in the Niger Delta. Pipeline oil spills can be caused by trawling of fishing boats, natural disasters, pipe corrosion, construction defects and deliberate sabotage or attacks, as with the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline in Colombia.


title: Oil spill

text: Recreational boats can spill oil into the ocean because of operational or human error and unpreparedness. The amounts are however small, and such oil spills are hard to track due to underreporting.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil can reach the oceans as oil and fuel from land-based sources. It is estimated that runoff oil and oil from rivers are responsible for 11% of oil pollution to the oceans. Such pollution can also be oil on roads from land vehicles, which is then flushed into the oceans during rainstorms. Purely land-based oil spills are different from maritime oil spills in that oil on land does not spread as quickly as in water, and effects thus remain local.


title: Oil spill

text: Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Physical cleanups of oil spills are also very expensive. Until the 1960s, the best method for remediation consisted of putting straw on the spill and retrieving the oil-soaked straw manually. Chemical remediation is the norm as of the early 21st Century, using compounds that can herd and thicken oil for physical recover, disperse oil in the water, or facilitate burning the oil off. The future of oil cleanup technology is likely the use of microorganisms such as Fusobacteriota (formerly Fusobacteria), species demonstrate potential for future oil spill cleanup because of their ability to colonize and degrade oil slicks on the sea surface.


title: Oil spill

text: There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-producing bacteria are anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain. The chemicals from the oil which dissolve in water, and hence are available to bacteria, are those in the water associated fraction of the oil.


title: Oil spill

text: Environmental Sensitivity Indexes (ESI) are tools used to create Environmental Sensitivity Maps (ESM). ESM's are pre-planning tools used to identify sensitive areas and resources prior to an oil spill event in order to set priorities for protection and plan clean-up strategies. It is to date the most commonly used mapping tool for sensitive area plotting. The ESI has three components: A shoreline type ranking system, a biological resources section, and a human-use resource category.


title: Oil spill

text: ESI is the most frequently used sensitivity mapping tool yet. It was first applied in 1979 in response to an oil-spill near Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. To this time, ESI maps were prepared merely days in advance of one's arrival to an oil spill location. ESMs used to be atlases, maps consisting of thousands of pages that could solely work with spills in the oceans. In the past 3 decades, this product has been transformed into a versatile online tool. This conversion allows sensitivity indexing to become more adaptable and in 1995 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worked on the tool allowing ESI to extended maps to lakes, rivers, and estuary shoreline types. ESI maps have since become integral to  collecting, synthesizing, and producing data which have previously never been accessible in digital formats. Especially in the United States, the tool has made impressive advancements in developing tidal bay protection strategies, collecting seasonal information and generally in the modelling of sensitive areas. Together with Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS), ESI integrates their techniques to successfully geographically reference the three different types of resources.


title: Oil spill

text: The ESI depicts environmental stability, coastal resilience to maritime related catastrophes, and the configurations of a stress-response relationship between all things maritime. Created for ecological-related decision making, ESMs can accurately identify sensitive areas and habitats, clean-up responses, response measures and monitoring strategies for oil-spills. The maps allow experts from varying fields to come together and work efficiently during fast-paced response operations.


title: Oil spill

text: The process of making an ESI atlas involves GIS technology. The steps involve, first zoning the area that is to be mapped, and secondly, a meeting with local and regional experts on the area and its resources. Following, all the shoreline types, biological, and human use resources need to be identified and their locations pinpointed. Once all this information is gathered, it then becomes digitized. In its digital format, classifications are set in place, tables are produced and local experts refine the product before it gets released.


title: Oil spill

text: ESI's current most common use is within contingency planning. After the maps are calculated and produced, the most sensitive areas get picked out and authenticated. These areas then go through a scrutinization process throughout which methods of protection and resource assessments are obtained. This in-depth research is then put back into the ESMs to develop their accuracy and allowing for tactical information to be stored in them as well. The finished maps are then used for drills and trainings for clean-up efficiency. Trainings also often help to update the maps and tweak certain flaws that might have occurred in the previous steps.


title: Oil spill

text: Shoreline type is classified by rank depending on how easy the target site would be to clean up, how long the oil would persist, and how sensitive the shoreline is. The ranking system works on a 10-point scale where the higher the rank, the more sensitive a habitat or shore is. The coding system usually works in colour, where warm colours are used for the increasingly sensitive types and cooler colours are used for robust shores. For each navigable body of water, there is a feature classifying its sensitivity to oil. Shoreline type mapping codes a large range of ecological settings including estuarine, lacustrine, and riverine environments. Floating oil slicks put the shoreline at particular risk when they eventually come ashore, covering the substrate with oil. The differing substrates between shoreline types vary in their response to oiling, and influence the type of cleanup that will be required to effectively decontaminate the shoreline. Hence ESI shoreline ranking helps committees identify which clean-up techniques are approved or detrimental the natural environment. The exposure the shoreline has to wave energy and tides, substrate type, and slope of the shoreline are also taken into account—in addition to biological productivity and sensitivity. Mangroves and marshes tend to have higher ESI rankings due to the potentially long-lasting and damaging effects of both oil contamination and cleanup actions. Impermeable and exposed surfaces with high wave action are ranked lower due to the reflecting waves keeping oil from coming onshore, and the speed at which natural processes will remove the oil.


title: Oil spill

text: Within the biological resources, the ESI maps protected areas as well as those with bio-diverse importance. These are usually identified through the UNEP-WCMC Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool. There are varying types of coastal habitats and ecosystems and thus also many endangered species that need to be considered when looking at affected areas post oil spills. The habitats of plants and animals that may be at risk from oil spills are referred to as "elements" and are divided by functional group. Further classification divides each element into species groups with similar life histories and behaviors relative to their vulnerability to oil spills. There are eight element groups: birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, habitats and plants, wetlands, and marine mammals and terrestrial mammals. Element groups are further divided into sub-groups, for example, the ‘marine mammals’ element group is divided into dolphins, manatees, pinnipeds (seals, sea lions & walruses), polar bears, sea otters and whales. Necessary when ranking and selecting species is their vulnerability to the oil spills themselves. This not only includes their reactions to such events but also their fragility, the scale of large clusters of animals, whether special life stages occur ashore, and whether any present species is threatened, endangered or rare. The way in which the biological resources are mapped is through symbols representing the species, and polygons and lines to map out the special extent of the species. The symbols also have the ability to identify the most vulnerable of a species life stages, such as the molting, nesting, hatching or migration patterns. This allows for more accurate response plans during those given periods. There is also a division for sub-tidal habitats which are equally important to coastal biodiversity including kelp, coral reefs and sea beds which are not commonly mapped within the shoreline ESI type.


title: Oil spill

text: Human-use resources are also often referred to as socio-economic features, which map inanimate resources that have the potential to be directly impacted by oil pollution. Human-use resources that are mapped within the ESI will have socio-economic repercussions to an oil spill. These resources are divided into four major classifications: archaeological importance or cultural resource site, high-use recreational areas or shoreline access points, important protected management areas, and resource origins. Some examples include airports, diving sites, popular beach sites, marinas, hotels, factories, natural reserves or marine sanctuaries. When mapped, the human-use resources the need protecting must be certified by a local or regional policy maker. These resources are often extremely vulnerable to seasonal changes due to ex. fishing and tourism. For this category there are also a set of symbols available to demonstrate their importance on ESMs.


title: Oil spill

text: By observing the thickness of the film of oil and its appearance on the surface of the water, it is possible to estimate the quantity of oil spilled. If the surface area of the spill is also known, the total volume of the oil can be calculated.


title: Oil spill

text: Oil spill model systems are used by industry and government to assist in planning and emergency decision making. Of critical importance for the skill of the oil spill model prediction is the adequate description of the wind and current fields. There is a worldwide oil spill modelling (WOSM) program. Tracking the scope of an oil spill may also involve verifying that hydrocarbons collected during an ongoing spill are derived from the active spill or some other source. This can involve sophisticated analytical chemistry focused on finger printing an oil source based on the complex mixture of substances present. Largely, these will be various hydrocarbons, among the most useful being polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In addition, both oxygen and nitrogen heterocyclic hydrocarbons, such as parent and alkyl homologues of carbazole, quinoline, and pyridine, are present in many crude oils. As a result, these compounds have great potential to supplement the existing suite of hydrocarbons targets to fine-tune source tracking of petroleum spills. Such analysis can also be used to follow weathering and degradation of crude spills.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The 2007 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006–07 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs defeated the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in a 4–0 sweep. This was Cleveland's first trip to the NBA Finals in their franchise history and San Antonio's fourth. Tony Parker was named the series' MVP. The series was televised on ABC under the ESPN on ABC branding, and produced the lowest television ratings in NBA Finals history until 2020.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: This series was the last sweep in the NBA Finals until 2018, which coincidentally also involved the Cavaliers on the losing end. This also was the last finals until 2019 in which a team made its first trip to the NBA Finals in its franchise history.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Finals were played using the 2-3-2 format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals in 1985. The other playoff series were played in the 2-2-1-1-1 format.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The best-of-seven series began on June 7, 2007, with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs playing the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Because the San Antonio Spurs had a better regular season win–loss record, they had home court advantage.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The previous season saw the San Antonio Spurs drop a heartbreaking seventh game at home to the rival Dallas Mavericks in the second round. As the new season began, the Spurs saw the Mavericks rolling through their regular season, on their way to a franchise best 67 win campaign. Meanwhile, the Spurs struggled through their season through January. With the main focus lying on Dallas and the Phoenix Suns, the Spurs found themselves flying under the radar. A late-season surge resulted in a 58–24 regular season record, good enough for third seed in the Western Conference.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: In the playoffs, the Spurs met the Denver Nuggets and their duo of Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. The Nuggets took game 1, but the Spurs reeled off 4 straight wins to take the series in five games. As San Antonio prepared to face off against the second seed Suns, the top-ranked Mavericks suffered a stunning first-round exit at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. With the Mavericks gone, the stakes of the Suns-Spurs series shot up dramatically, and it was a closely competitive and controversial series.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Suns had homecourt advantage, but that did not last past game 1. In a hotly contested battle of Western Conference heavyweights, each team tried to deliver a knockout blow. The Spurs finally landed it, but by accident. With the game in the balance Tony Parker and Steve Nash collided head-to-head. A large gash opened along Nash's nose and the medical staff could not stop the bleeding. He was forced to sit out the final 45 seconds and watch the Spurs win, 111–106. Game 2 saw the Suns rebound and blow out the Spurs, 101–81. After this game, Suns center Amar'e Stoudemire called the Spurs a dirty team. Game 3 switched back to San Antonio and saw a return of physical play, with Manu Ginóbili receiving a bruised and bloodied eye and Bruce Bowen kneeing Nash in the groin. Tim Duncan led the Spurs to a 108–101 victory.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Games 4 and 5 were the most controversial of the series. The Spurs, after being comfortably in control of game 4, saw their 11-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle away to a 2-point Suns lead. With 18 seconds left, Robert Horry bodychecked Nash into the scorers' table. Nash's teammates jumped to his defense; during the ensuing altercation, Stoudemire and Boris Diaw left the bench. Their action violated NBA rules, and league commissioner David Stern suspended both players for game 5. Horry was also suspended two games for his flagrant foul on Nash. In game 5, in Phoenix, the short-handed Suns jumped out early to a 16-point lead, but in a reversal of game 4, the Spurs came back in the final seconds and won the game 88–85, giving San Antonio a 3–2 series lead.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Spurs won game 6 of the series 114–106 in San Antonio, sending them to their fifth Western Conference finals since 1999.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: San Antonio went on to beat the Utah Jazz in five games to advance to the franchise's fourth NBA Finals.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: In the replay of the previous year's playoffs with the Cavaliers holding home court advantage against Washington Wizards, the Cavaliers swept the Wizards after the season-ending injuries of both Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. In the second round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers faced the New Jersey Nets. Again, the Cavaliers had home court advantage, and battled the Nets through 6 games before winning the series. The Cavaliers advanced to the conference finals for only the third time in franchise history, and faced a familiar foe: the Detroit Pistons, the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, with their home court advantage. This was the same Detroit team that knocked the Cavaliers out of the second round the previous year. Expectations were high after a 7-game series the previous year and the two teams did not disappoint.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The first two games were close and saw Cleveland fall by identical 79–76 scores. Down 0–2 in the series, the spotlight shifted back to Cleveland and LeBron James. Another hard-fought set ensued, with the Cavaliers taking the two games at home 88-82 and 91-87 respectively. Game 5 switched back to Detroit and produced one of the greatest moments in NBA history.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: With 6:14 to go in regulation and his team clinging to a one-point 79–78 lead, James took over the game. He scored 11 of the final 12 points to end regulation tied 91-91. In the first overtime, James scored all nine of the Cavaliers' points, ending the period tied 100-100. In the second overtime, James again scored all nine of the team's points to win, 109-107. Thus, in the last 16:14 of play, James scored 29 of the Cavaliers' last 30 points, as well as all of their last 25 points.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Cavaliers beat the Pistons at home in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to earn the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. Cleveland became the third team in NBA history to win a best-of-seven conference finals series after trailing by 2 games.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the 2007 Finals as newcomers. Game 1 was their first NBA Finals game in franchise history, and the first for each of its players (other than reserve point guard Eric Snow). However, the San Antonio Spurs had been to the Finals in three of the past eight seasons, winning a championship each time. With solid performances by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili, the Spurs won the series opener in convincing fashion, limiting LeBron James to 14 points on 4–16 shooting.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Spurs took a stranglehold on momentum in Game 2. The Spurs' big three overwhelmed the Cavs and the Spurs led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter. They dominated the game during the first 3 quarters and played show-time basketball. A furious 25–6 rally by Cleveland in the final quarter wasn't enough as the Spurs took a 2–0 lead in the series.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Rookie Daniel Gibson started Game 3 in place of the injured Larry Hughes but scored a series-low 2 points on 1-10 shooting. As a team the Cavs shot only .367, but out-rebounded the Spurs 48–41. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a 2006–07 season high 18 rebounds. On the game's final play, LeBron James missed a potential game-tying 29 foot 3-pointer.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Game 3 was the lowest scoring Finals game since 1955, with Tim Duncan of the Spurs having his lowest scoring game in his NBA Finals career, with 14 points.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: San Antonio started out strong through the first three quarters, leading by as many as 11. Cleveland would stage a rally near the end of the third quarter and the first five minutes of the fourth, scoring 14 consecutive points to take its first second-half lead of the series. However, the Spurs would stage a 12–3 rally of their own to retake the lead and win the series in a 4–0 sweep.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Coverage was produced by ESPN and televised on ABC in the United States, TSN in Canada, Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, Canal+ in France, Premiere in Germany, and more than 100 other broadcasters in over 200 countries.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, analysts Mark Jackson & former Rockets head-coach Jeff Van Gundy, and courtside reporters Michele Tafoya & Stuart Scott provided commentary and analysis for the North American market. The radio coverage on ESPN Radio features play-by-play man Mike Tirico and color analysts Dr. Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: This was the first of a record 14 NBA Finals assignments for the team of Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy. With the exception of the and Finals (Jackson was head coach of the Golden State Warriors during this period), the trio would call every NBA Finals thereafter. (In the 2022 NBA Finals, Mark Jones alongside Mark Jackson called Game 1 of the series with Breen and Van Gundy out due to COVID-19 protocols; Van Gundy returned in Game 2 followed by Breen in Game 3.)


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Another song featured in the 2007 NBA Finals series, "It Ends Tonight" by The All-American Rejects, was aired at the end of the pre-game promo for Game 4.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: According to ESPN, the NBA Finals series was a television bust in the United States. San Antonio's four-game sweep of Cleveland finished with a record-low 6.2 television rating and 11 share on ABC, Nielsen Media Research said on June 15, 2007.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: That was down 27 percent from the 8.5/15 for Miami's six-game victory over Dallas from the previous year and 5 percent under the previous low, a 6.5/12 for San Antonio's six-game win over New Jersey in .


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: San Antonio's series-winning 83-82 victory on Thursday night got a 6.5/12, down 17 percent from the 7.8/14 for Game 4 in 2006.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: Despite having the lowest ratings of any NBA championship series, game two of the 2003 series between San Antonio and New Jersey remains the lowest-rated game of all time in the history of the NBA Finals.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Spurs won 56 games in the succeeding 2007–08 season, but relinquished the Southwest Division title to the New Orleans Hornets due to a tie-breaker. The Spurs had the last laugh, though, defeating the Hornets in seven games. But their chance of defending their title was denied by the Los Angeles Lakers in five games of the conference finals. After that, age and injury took its toll on the Spurs, as they proceeded to win only a single playoff series in three years (2010, vs. Dallas 4–2 of the first round), before getting upset by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs despite finishing with 61 wins.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Spurs then retooled their roster, after which they appeared in three consecutive conference finals, beginning in 2012, before making the NBA Finals in and against James and the Miami Heat. The Spurs split the two Finals meetings against the Heat.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Cavaliers won 45 games in the 2007–08 season, despite early-season contract issues involving center Anderson Varejão and guard Sasha Pavlović, and a mid-season trade for Ben Wallace. They fell in the second round to the eventual NBA champions Boston Celtics in seven games, after a hard-fought duel involving LeBron James and Paul Pierce. The Cavaliers would earn the league's best record for the next two years (66 and 61 wins, respectively) and boast the NBA's MVP in James. However, they were unable to win it all, losing to the Orlando Magic in six games of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals and the Celtics in six games of the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals (allowing the Lakers to win the Finals twice against the Magic and Celtics). The latter playoff defeat would cost head coach Mike Brown his job, though he was later re-hired (and fired again) in the 2013–14 NBA season. After that season, as a free agent, James left for the Miami Heat and helped them to four successive NBA Finals appearances, winning in and 2013, while the Cavaliers sunk to an Eastern Conference-low 19 wins in the 2010–11 NBA season, which included a 26-game losing streak.


title: 2007 NBA Finals

text: The Cavaliers then appeared in the NBA draft lottery four consecutive times, earning the top pick in three of them. Those three top picks became Kyrie Irving (2011), Anthony Bennett (2013) and Andrew Wiggins (2014) (Bennett and Wiggins were later traded to Minnesota for Kevin Love). In July 2014, James announced his return to the Cavaliers after the hiring of coach David Blatt, and they reached the against the Atlanta Hawks with a 4-0 sweep before falling to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals 4-2. The following season, the Cavaliers returned to the Finals in a rematch against the Golden State Warriors and won the Finals over the Warriors 4-3 with LeBron James winning the Finals MVP.


title: Student

text: In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary schools are "pupils".