European Parliament vows its support for Ukraine
"Cooperation
with Ukraine is essential and
our solidarity should not be
questioned", said European Parliament President Martin Schulz at the
opening of "Ukraine week" on Monday evening.
This 3-day high-level conference is bringing
together MEPs, national and Ukrainian
MPs to share
experience on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation.
The event "demonstrates strong solidarity between the European Parliament
and the Verkhovna
Rada of Ukraine",
said Mr Schulz.
"You need our support and
you will receive it. However
recommendations to reform the VRU should not be
put into the filing cabinet,
but implemented", he added.
"Ukraine needs strong institutions and we are ready to start reforms to strengthen democracy in Ukraine. [..] The drawbacks, such as ethics or political culture, will not hinder it", said Chairman of the Vekhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman.
EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement
Negotiations Johannes Hahn, also expressed
his support for Ukraine, noting
that the "EU does not support
political parties or politicians, but the principles
of rule of
law and democracy".
Conference co-chairs Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) and Andrej Plenković (EPP, HR) stressed that there is no sustainable democratic and political development of a country without a proper efficient, independent and well-functioning parliament. "Every week in the European Parliament is Ukraine week", added Mr Plenković.
At the opening,
former European Parliament President Pat Cox presented
his report and a capacity-building roadmap for the VRU, which
will serve a basis for further
"Ukraine week" debates on Tuesday.
"The driving idea for this
report was that stability of democracy, economic
and social situation is built
on strong and independent institutions", he said.
European Parliament