The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko and the Deputy Speaker Olena Kondratiuk met with the Vice-President of the European Commission Věra Jourová

The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko, the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk and representatives of parliamentary factions and groups met with Věra Jourová, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency.

First of all, Oleksandr Korniienko stressed that Ukraine welcomed the European Commission's recommendation to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and assured of our country’s determination to complete the legislative steps set out in the European Commission's Report as part of the Enlargement Package.

“We have positive results of implementing two steps set out in the European Commission’s Report on anti-corruption policy,” he said, adding that the preparation of draft laws to implement other steps, including those on the rights of national communities and lobbying regulation, has already begun.

In addition, the First Deputy Speaker focused on the issue of military and financial assistance. “I personally see our defenders a lot, and the issue of the speed of supplying ammunition is very important. The struggle is ongoing and time plays a crucial role on the way to victory,” emphasised Oleksandr Korniienko.

“More than 92% of the society supports our aspirations to join the European Union. This is the biggest challenge for us to accelerate the process of accession to the EU as soon as possible,” said Olena Kondratiuk, the Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. She also noted that absolutely all factions and groups, without dividing them into majority and minority, understand the absolute responsibility and historical mission of this convocation of the Parliament of Ukraine to bring Ukraine’s accession to the EU closer.

In addition, she noted that Ukrainian society also associates joining the EU with security: “More than 60% of our people say and believe that if they join the EU, they ensure their right to security.”

Olena Kondratiuk also drew attention to the importance of opening up economic opportunities for Ukrainians after joining the EU, as well as to combating disinformation narratives spread by the russian federation.

“We have incredible admiration for you and the progress you are making in implementing reforms that are very difficult,” said Věra Jourová, the Vice-President of the European Commission. “I want to be an authentic witness to the work you have done. I am confident that I will come back with a message that Ukraine is doing everything possible to ensure the creation of a proper anti-corruption system,” the Vice-President of the European Commission said: “The EU enlargement is not about feeling sympathy for someone, it is about the country’s achievements.”

“The path to victory, European integration and our recovery are inseparable processes that cannot be imagined without each other,” said Olena Shuliak, the Chair of the Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional Development and Urban Planning. She also noted that Ukraine clearly understands how important community leadership and civil society involvement in all decision-making processes related to reconstruction will be in the recovery process. “We understand how important it is to have all the anti-corruption safeguards in place at the time of planning the entire recovery architecture. And today we are working on a large legislative framework related to the recovery process,” said Olena Shuliak.

For his part, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, raised the issue of lobbying in Ukraine. He noted that this issue in Ukraine has been largely regulated by the progressive Law on Access to Public Information. “The public has the opportunity to obtain a huge amount of information about the contacts between the state and business through the openness registers and the ability to influence certain decisions,” said Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, stressing that this needs to be further improved.

At the same time, Hryhorii Nemyria, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, stressed that any peace treaty based on the exchange of peace on the territory would not bring peace, but an invitation to even greater aggression. “This war is about who will write the rules of the new security order in Europe and the world,” he stressed.

The member of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union Petro Poroshenko expressed gratitude for the decision of the European Commission to recommend the start of negotiations on Ukraine’ts accession to the European Union and for the personal role and efforts of the Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová in this process. “European integration unites the Parliament, we speak with one voice – and we must use this atmosphere to say that we must continue to put pressure on russia to stop its aggression,” Petro Poroshenko said.

Anna Skorokhod, the member of the Committee on Energy, Housing and Utilities, expressed hope for a positive decision on Ukraine's membership in the European Union. “Only together we can ensure security on our territories, economic and social development, democracy and stability in society,” she said.

The meeting was also attended by Yurii Pavlenko, the member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, and Antonina Slavytska, the member of the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy.