Brussels, 01/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 1 December, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn called on Russia to make the first step in settling the Ukrainian crisis.
Questioned on the effectiveness of the sanctions, Hahn stated that the rouble and Russian stock exchange were simply falling apart. “I hope that this will encourage Russia to begin normalising relations with Ukraine. It's in Russia where the first step needs to be made”, he told a press conference. Hahn told the European Parliament that he hoped that “reason would come into its own again very soon”. “The EU and the European Commission must continue to be firm”, he said, telling the European Parliament that if the situation became worse, new sanctions would have to be considered.
New sanctions came into force on 29 November (see EUROPE 11206). There are now 13 new people - including the deputy prime minister and former prosecutor general of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, Ravil Khalikov, the vice president of the parliament of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, Alexander Kofman, the head of the central electoral commission of Lugansk, Sergei Kozyakov, and several ministers - who are deprived of visas and have their assets frozen in the EU. Sanctions have also been imposed on five new entities. These organisations presented the candidates during the “so-called elections” of 2 November in the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk - elections that “breach Ukrainian law and are therefore illegal” (see EUROPE 11190). Four of these are “public organisations” - the Republic of Donetsk, Peace for the region of Lugansk, Free Donbass, and the People's Union, while the fifth - the Economic Union of Lugansk - is a “social organisation”.
Back from Ukraine (see EUROPE 11207), Hahn stated that the donors conference is expected to take place in early 2015 - but he gave no further detail on the date. “We want to organise the donors conference at the beginning of next year”, he said. “We want a roadmap with clear indications on the reforms, the timetable, and tangible results of what has been done”, he added. “Trust must be built and, when it exists, we can very quickly agree on a date. The sooner the better, but this can only be done on a concrete basis”, he said, adding that those who will come - whom he prefers to call investors rather than donors - will have to know the short- and medium-term outlook in Ukraine. He stated that the new government, which will become known on Tuesday, should set to work as results are needed.
Hahn also stated that a new tranche of aid would very soon be disbursed, saying that there would be an announcement from European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici “this week”. “The EU is not only a donor for Ukraine. We need something back. Ukraine needs to move on from the idea of being a beneficiary of aid to the idea of being an opportunity for investment”, he said, underlining that the EU wanted to contribute to the country regaining confidence in itself (our translation throughout). (CG)