The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko took part in a roundtable discussion: “Parliament during the war: analysis of activities and ways to improve the legislative process”.
In his opening remarks, the First Vice Speaker noted that the war has become a huge challenge for Ukrainian society, and especially for the Ukrainian authorities and the Parliament in particular.
“In the first hours and days after the outbreak of the war, various people and even countries said that within a week or two, or a month, this country would be gone. But we withstood. The Ukrainian people withstood. The Ukrainian government withstood. And, in particular, the Ukrainian democracy and the Ukrainian Parliament have withstood,” said Oleksandr Korniienko.
He added that the Verkhovna Rada not only withstood, but also continued to work and in certain aspects was even more active and productive.
“To withstand was the first task, the security one. And then we had to not only withstand, but also work three times harder than before. After all, the tasks facing the country were completely new,” the First Vice Speaker emphasised.
He particularly emphasised that martial law imposed many security restrictions, but the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was able to fully regulate its activities and establish work, taking into account all the risks.
He also thanked all the experts for their attention to the work of the Parliament and its in-depth analysis, which is very helpful in planning the agenda of the country’s only legislative body.
“At the same time, it is important that Ukrainian society continues to work and remains active even during the war. This is not only noticed by us here, but also recognised by the world. And, of course, we, as politicians, will try to listen and take into account certain aspects of the feedback,” the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said at the end of his opening remarks.
In addition, the participants discussed the presentation of the study “Parliament in Times of War” and the next steps to improve the workflow of the Ukrainian Parliament.