Opening the parliamentary hearings "State and Prospects of the Development of Economic Relations with the European Union (free trade zone) and the Customs Union", Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stressed, "Development of economic relations with the EU and the Customs Union is not a concern of parties or factions, but a concern of Ukrainian people."
The Deputy Chairman reminded that this topic moved up the agenda, after the Russian state leaders and numerous Ukrainian politicians called on Ukraine to access the Customs Union. "European institutions and Russia have already formulated their attitude towards this issue. A clear-cut stance of Ukraine should now be formulated and discussed," he stressed.
However, M.Tomenko warned that this stand should not be the one of the pro-authority or the opposition parties. "It concerns the entire society, as it is connected with the strategy of geopolitical development and state vision," he stressed. "Therefore, at the today´s parliamentary hearings we will listen not only to the reports of the Government and the People´s Deputies, but also to the experts on respective issues to set the strategic goals of Ukraine which meet the national interests, not the electoral programs of particular parties," the Deputy Chairman emphasized.