"European integration is the path of teamwork, which we continue to implement on a daily basis. And one of the tasks is to bring our legislation closer to the European one," said Oleksandr Korniienko, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, following consultations with representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in particular, the Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Office of the President of Ukraine and national communities on the draft Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Consideration of Expert Opinion of the Council of Europe and its Bodies on the Rights of National Minorities (Communities) in Certain Areas".
He noted that the draft law aims to introduce certain changes to address issues of concern to national communities.
"On behalf of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, I testified that at all our stages, the issue of national communities has always been and will always be among our priorities. And the steps that our state has taken demonstrate its readiness to address problematic issues related to the protection of minority rights," said Oleksandr Korniienko.
He also said that he personally had several very interesting rounds of discussions with representatives of the communities of Odesa and Zakarpattia regions: "The result is that their wishes were taken into account when adopting the Resolution on new zoning districts."
At the same time, the First Vice Speaker called for work to ensure that the national community centres are full of real help, work and grant projects.
"We are open to dialogue and committed to international principles," said the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, thanking all the participants for the substantive discussion.