The idea of turning Ukraine into a European democratic state must unite all political forces and be the fundamental for political cooperation, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman told the Inter TV channel on Sunday.
Groysman also noted that the parliamentarians had proved their ability to unite "to overcome the military aggression, enhance the defense capacity of the country, fight against corruption or to ensure European integration of Ukraine."
He said that the political parties would have "to unite as the politicians are elected not to merely wear a deputy badge, but to work hard in favor of our state and enhancement of Ukraine's statehood." "That is the test for any political force currently represented at the Parliament and those political forces, which are outside of it," the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada added.
"Ukraine has to be the uniting factor for all of us. Our idea to build a European democratic state must unite everybody and be the basis for our political cooperation. All the rest — political colors, disagreements, ideology discrepancies, personal confrontations between political leaders — must be pushed aside as we are facing too many challenging issues: domestic reforms, fight against external aggression, efforts in the international arena, consolidation in fight against world-scale terrorism," Groysman said.
"We have lots of tasks still on the agenda, so it is incredibly important to replace scrap mottos with clear actions. Thus, I call on all participants in the political process, as well as the heads of parliamentary political factions to be as united as never before. That is extremely important. And I am absolutely confident it is what the Ukrainian citizens expect from us to do despite their electoral preferences," Groysman said.
Speaking about the tragic events in Paris, the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada drew an analogy of these terror attacks with the ones in Volnovakha and Mariupol, with annexation of Crimea, armed conflict in the east of Ukraine "aggression, intentions to undermine the system of international security." He noted that manifestations of organized terrorism demand comprehensive analysis and combination of everybody's efforts aimed at counteracting them.
"Our international partners, inter alia the European ones, understand that the war unleashed by Russia today, in particular, in Ukraine, is not a domestic issue of Ukraine itself. Today our soldiers at the eastern border of Ukraine protect European values and Europe to prevent settling of the Russia's aggression issue in a military way," Groysman said.
Therefore, Groysman noted that responsibility of all political forces lies in their comprehensive consolidation. On the other hand he noted the necessity for consolidation of "the international coalition against the aggression, terrorism, against violation of the world order, international security." "These are new challenges for the whole world. How fast we will remove the menace depends on well-agreed and coordinated actions of all civilized countries," he concluded.