Agreement on Association with the European Union will become an Effective Vehicle for Large-Scale Political and Economic Transformations in the State, - V. Lytvyn
04 October 2011, 13:56
Agreement on
Association with the European Union will become an effective vehicle for large-scale
political and economic transformations in the state.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn made this statement, meeting Barbara Prammer, President of the National Council of Austria.
According to V. Lytvyn, Ukraine started to reform all spheres of life when "other ways of state development have already been exhausted." Transformations require a dialogue between the politicians, so cooperation with the EU is crucial for Ukraine. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stated that European perspective should become a powerful political signal to justify the efforts aimed at implementation of complicated, and sometimes painful, reforms.
"Ukraine can not be at the crossroads; it should have a definite orientation to lead the political elite," the Head of the Ukrainian Parliament stressed. "Ukraine treats the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Zone Agreement as a matter of political choice."
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated that most Ukrainian citizens "accept European way of life and European values." "Both politicians and general public agree on the European perspective," V. Lytvyn said. "However, these democratic principles should conform to the faith and moral principles of our society."
The Head of the Parliament emphasized that democratic European values are not new for Ukraine, as the documents of Kyivan Rus prove. "Ukraine is a country of under-realized democracy," he admitted.
V. Lytvyn declared that Ukraine attaches great importance to the upkeep and development of relations with the Russian Federation.
The President of the National Council of Austria declared that Austria highly appreciated the fact that "almost all political parties of Ukraine support European integration." Austria is interested in Ukraine "moving towards the European integration in part of policy democratization and economic development."
Ms Prammer stated that attitude of authorities to the parties and politicians in opposition will become an important signal of Ukraine for the EU.
"Opposition will always feel as opposition as long as the Verkhovna Rada exists," V. Lytvyn responded. Along these lines, the Head of the Parliament informed that representatives of the opposition chair fourteen parliamentary committees out of twenty-seven, and the opposition can form the agenda on Wednesdays and invite the government members to the Government Question Hour on Fridays. "The most important thing for me is that politicians shall understand that they should act from the legal point of view and hold a dialogue," V. Lytvyn stated.