Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: There is no Publicity Problem in Ukraine, however, there is a Lack of Reaction on the Published Information concerning Abuse
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Karel Schwarzenberg,
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the
Czech Republic.
V. Lytvyn stated that he paid special attention to the development of bilateral relations between Ukrainian and Czech nations, and expressed his hope that the visit of K. Schwarzenberg would be a new stage in the Ukrainian-Czech dialogue.
However, the Head of the Ukrainian Parliament admitted to the insufficient development of relations on the parliamentary level, caused " by both objective and subjective circumstances." "Unfortunately, the interparliamentary dialogue is not distinguished by the positive dynamics", V. Lytvyn declared.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained, "We have lost time focusing on the political issues instead of legislation." He suggested fostering the bilateral cooperation between the Parliaments in the framework of international parliamentary institutions.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is interested in the further development of bilateral relations between the heads of the Parliaments, friendship groups and the committees.
V. Lytvyn deems necessary to harmonize the domestic law with the requirement sof the European Union. He addressed K. Schwarzenberg with a request to assist in this respect. The Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament emphasised that he upheld coordination of the domestic life with the European standards.
V. Lytvyn called for involving the Ukrainian Parliament into the work of the European institutions and regional organizations, such as the Visegrad Group, as it would facilitate "presence of Ukraine in Europe."
Discussing the trade-economic cooperation, V. Lytvyn called for amending the domestic law to improve the customs and border control.
The Parties discussed anti-corruption tools in Ukraine. K. Schwarzenberg considers free access to information, freedom of speec and mass media, activity of independent non-governmental organizations as a pledge of struggle against this negative phenomenon.
V.
Lytvyn agreed with the Minister
of Foreign Affairs and stated,
"there is no publicity problem
in Ukraine." "The problem is
in a lack of response to
the published information on abuse, especially, on the part
of state officials. On the
one hand, the society put
up with it,
on the other
hand, the officials are impudent",
he stated.
According to Volodymyr Lytvyn, the Verkhovna Rada is working upon several anti-corruption bills to be adopted by the end of the year. The Chairman attaches great importance to "a fair and responsible judicial service" to guarantee implementation of the laws.
"We need effective laws and their implementation, as well as a single approach for the general equality before the law. Their adoption is an initial stage to be followed by a comprehensive work," he declared. The President, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Parliament are willing to uphold this idea.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deems necessary todevelop a unified approach to these these issues, starting from the formation of authorities. He suggested adopting a fair election legislation: "The problem is that the authorities are constantly changing."
V. Lytvyn also called for the effective public supervision over the dignitaries and strengthening of the society institutes in Ukraine.
Speaking on the Tax Code, V. Lytvyn declared that this document was not prefect, although "The Code meets the following goals: everyone is obliged to pay taxes, otherwise Ukraine would have serious problems with the Pension Fund."