Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andrii Parubii has congratulated Mr. Enberg on his appointment as the head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine / representative of the Council of Europe Secretary-General for coordination of cooperation with the Council of Europe in Ukraine.
The Parties discussed further cooperation between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, improvement of the legislation, assistance in implementation of reforms and their information support.
Parubii noted that Ukraine has managed to make remarkable steps in the implementation of reforms despite the armed hostilities taking place in the east of the country. In particular, he reminded that the Verkhovna Rada had adopted one of the best anticorruption laws, and pointed out successful implementation of the security, justice and legal reforms. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed that the cooperation with the Council of Europe is of particular importance for Ukraine. Andrii Parubii said the Verkhovna Rada committees and the leadership of Ukrainian Parliament are ready for open and fruitful cooperation with the Council of Europe.
In turn, Mr. Enberg expressed his optimism regarding Ukraine's certain success in the implementation of reforms. He said the Council of Europe will further support Ukraine, in particular, in matters of the assessment of draft laws, reformation of the Parliament, Ukrainian election system, and providing true information about the real situation in Ukraine.
Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko noted that the Ukrainian issue should be among the top-priority matters on the agenda of the Council of Europe. She drew attention to the necessity to cover true information about the infringement of human rights in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea.
Reference information: On January 21, 2015, the participants in the meeting of the Ministers Committee of the Council of Europe approved the Action Plan of the Council of Europe for Ukraine for 2015-2017.
The Action Plan was then elaborated by the Council of Europe in close cooperation with the Ukrainian bodies of state power.
This is the third Action Plan in the history of the Ukraine-Council of Europe cooperation.
The Document sets major priorities in assistance of the Council of Europe for Ukraine:
constitutional reform and functioning of democratic institutions;
judicial reform;
criminal justice and law enforcement bodies reform;
consolidation of democratic management and local self-government reform, including decentralization;
fight against economic crimes and corruption;
whole range of human rights protection matters.