International conference “Strengthening Parliament’s Oversight Function in Eastern Partnership Countries”
Opening the event, Petro Bodnar, the First Deputy Secretary General of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariate-Chief Manager, stressed that under the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation, the temporary occupation of the Crimea and separate regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, there is a range of extraordinary functions the Parliament has been imposed to exercise – it first of all is providing legislation for reforms throughout the life of society, including the security sector, integration and membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as constituent and oversight powers according to the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine. Proper implementation of these functions by the parliament does establish a guarantee for democracy in Ukraine, a cornerstone for all the processes of modern state-building and ensuring stability, concord and unity within the Ukrainian society.
According to the official, the challenges the Ukrainian state and Ukrainian parliamentarism have faced are not actually new: in Moldova, there are occupation forces, while some ten years ago Russian tanks entered the territory of Georgia. However, the scope and level of menace to world democracies that modern Russia produces are unparalleled. Among the most effective steps against the aggressor are developing democracy, strengthening the role of national parliaments and their ability to jointly counteract the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation at the international level.
In attendance, there were speakers of parliaments of Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, representatives of the German Bundestag, the German Embassy to Ukraine, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and a panel of international experts.
The conferees had ample debates over further parliamentary reforms, in particular – functioning of research institutes and think tanks, as well as improvements in mechanisms of interaction with society with the aim to ensure openness and transparency of the work of parliaments of the Eastern Partnership countries.