Acting President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov met with delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as part of the Presidential Committee, and the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee on Ukraine headed by the PACE President Anne Brasseur.
In the course of the meeting, the Parties discussed current developments
in Ukraine,
attaching special attention to the developments in Autonomous Republic of
Crimea. According to Oleksandr Turchynov, despite of threats and pressure on the part of the Russian Federation, “we have signed the EU Association Agreement thereby stressing that Ukraine will soon join the family of European countries.”
Oleksandr Turchynov stressed that the authorities continue reformation of law enforcement agencies, as well as the court and administrative system, - everything that is needed to meet the EU and OSCE criteria regarding democratization of Ukraine.” “However, cynic aggression of the Russian Federation in Crimea is in path of stabilizing the situation,” said Oleksandr Turchynov, adding that such actions against Ukraine are the challenge not only to our country, but to the entire system of international security. “We hope for real support of our strategic partners and guarantors of our territorial integrity,” he added.
In the context of future presidential elections, Oleksandr Turchynov expressed conviction that the elections set for May 25, will be transparent, democratic and efficient. “We should restore transparent electoral system. We welcome all monitoring groups of our partners during these elections,” he noted.
In her turn, Anne Brasseur stressed that delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, that arrived to Ukraine, consists of heads of all political groups represented in the Assembly. “We came here with the heads of all political groups to show that PACE is extremely concerned with aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine,” she said. “We condemn Russia’s actions in Crimea unanimously an severely, this is our stand,” stressed Anne Brasseur
Apart from this, the Parties discussed the issue of cooperation in the sphere of reforming legislation, court system and the system of law enforcement bodies.
“We are ready to cooperate with you and assist in every possible way in reforming legislation, court system, the system of law enforcement bodies, holding of constitutional reform and new electoral legislation. We have extremely rich experience in these issues and we are ready to share it with you,” added the PACE President.
Summing up, Oleksandr Turchynov reminded that the Ukrainian delegation in the PACE upheld initiative of a number of Assembly’s members to withdraw the Russian Federation from membership in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
“Russia’s aggressive conduct contradicts the OSCE fundamental principles. Such activity is not compliant with membership in this organization,” he added.