The beginning of work of the Ukrainian Parliament of the new convocation and the Government create favorable conditions for intensification of democratic and economic reforms, as well as further realization of the strategic course towards the European integration.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak said this on Tuesday during the meeting with the former President of the Republic of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski and former President of the European Parliament Peter Cox.
The Verkhovna Rada, he said, attaches great importance to interaction with the European Parliament in regard to a wide range of issues, in particular within the framework of the mission of the authorized representatives of the European Parliament. The Head of the Parliament said that the estimation of preliminary results of work of the mission this year is important for him, as well as the vision of possible ways of facilitation on the part of the Verkhovna Rada to perform their mandate. “It is necessary both for the attempts of reforms in Ukraine, and collaboration of our state with the European Union,” he said.
The present stage in relations between Ukraine and the EU, stressed V. Rybak, is especially important. “We appreciate the increased attention of the European Union to the questions of further development of cooperation with our state,” he said.
According to him, Ukraine considers the Opinion of the Council of the EU on foreign affairs of December 10, 2012 on the situation in Ukraine as “the proof of support of the EU of further intensification of bilateral relations by signing the Association Agreement with Ukraine.”
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada noted that over a short period of time al lot has been done in Ukraine to reform the system of justice in accordance with the European standards, in particular, the new Code of Criminal Procedure has come into force. “We understand the necessity of further work on reformation of the court system with active participation of European experts,” said V. Rybak. “On particular, the next meeting of the Constitutional Assembly at the end of February – in the beginning of March 2013 will be dedicated to problems of judiciary reformation will be.”
In this context he stressed that Ukraine welcomes “the clear signal of the Resolution of the European Parliament of December 13 this year that it is necessary that the EU assisted Ukraine in its reformatory attempts.” “ We are grateful to out partners in the EU for their proposals in the parts of the ways of reforming the rule of law system in Ukraine,” said V. Rybak.
The leader of the Parliament stressed that Ukraine is interested in prompt signing of the Association Agreement and noted that the extended and all-embracing free trade zone, which can be created after the Agreement is signed, deserves special attention.
“We need to introduce the European standards of living as soon as possible,” claimed V. Rybak.
In his turn, A. Kwasniewski expressed hope that the Association Agreement would be signed during the present cadence of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada informed also that the work on further improvement of election legislation would be continued in the nearest future. “We have taken into consideration the opinion of the international community concerning the assessment of parliamentary elections in Ukraine. All remarks will be analyzed thoroughly, and the drawbacks discovered will be taken into account in our further work. In this context we are ready to continue cooperation with the EU and the Council of Europe,” he said.
A. Kwasniewski and P. Cox said that one of the main goals of their mission was to facilitate the establishment of dialogue regarding the euro-integration prospects of Ukraine. According to P. Cox, the “ambitious aim” of the mission was, in particular, creation of conditions for Ukraine to perform the requirements of the recommendations of the European institutions.
The heads of the mission expressed the opinion on importance of creating in the Ukrainian parliament and Ukrainian society the atmosphere that would promote consensus concerning Ukraine’s European integration.