Brussels, 20/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - Visiting Kiev on 19 February, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn called on Ukraine to implement the reforms that have already been voted upon.
Congratulating Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, and the Ukrainian government and parliament on the initial “very impressive” reforms that have already been made - which is “remarkable” given the situation in the country - Hahn stated that the “emphasis for 2015 [should] be implementation” of these reforms. “The EU will mobilise the experts needed by Ukraine to support and help the country in this reform process”, Hahn said at the end of his meeting with Poroshenko.
Hahn said in Brussels on 20 February that more emphasis was needed on the judicial system, the rule of law, the fight against corruption, and reform of the administration.
He called for a meeting to be held in the spring in order to show the extent of the reforms made, and for a conference for investors to be held in the autumn “to show the international community what has been done”. Such a conference has been postponed on several occasions in the past. Questioned about the postponement of this conference and the significance of this in terms of the delay in the reforms, Hahn repeated that the reforms that have already been voted upon needed to be implemented. “This is why we have decided to respect the following sequence: to show the reforms that have already been implemented to the outside world and to Ukraine, and to show the initial results”, he said, noting that the indicators on the country's attractiveness were very weak. “We need proof, concrete examples of positive development” in judicial issues, the rule of law, freedom of the media and economic reforms, Hahn stated. In his view, once this step has been completed, an international conference of investors would be justified, “at the right time”.
Hahn and Poroshenko also discussed the Eastern Partnership summit, scheduled in Riga on 21-22 May. “I'm hoping for a positive political decision from the EU which would pave the way for technical implementation of the visa-free system for citizens from Ukraine by the end of this year”, Poroshenko stated. Hahn and Poroshenko also discussed ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement and coordination of their actions to accelerate the process. Poroshenko also wants the Open Sky air agreement to be signed.
Call for ceasefire to be respected. Hahn called for the ceasefire to be respected and for the withdrawal of all heavy weapons, as agreed by the parties in Minsk (see EUROPE 11252). Poroshenko underlined that the violation of the Minsk agreements should be dealt with appropriately by the EU, the US, Canada and the whole world. “We agreed with the European leaders that a big reaction would follow if there was an escalation [of violence] and if the Minsk agreements were further violated”, he said.
Poroshenko spoke about his idea of an EU police mission for monitoring the ceasefire - a mission that he considered as the most “acceptable”. “Russia, as the aggressor, has not, and will not, be part of this peacekeeping operation”, he said.
Hahn took note of the Ukrainian authorities' suggestion on how to monitor the ceasefire. “Together, we must find the best solution, the most sustainable and effective one, and also the quickest one, which will enable the guarantee of the ceasefire being monitored, and other further peaceful developments”, he said. In Brussels, Hahn also stated that although Poroshenko had made proposals, “our point of view is that focus now needs to be put on concrete implementation of the Minsk agreement (…) and speculation should not be made on other options”. He reiterated that the OSCE should be able to begin its monitoring mission and have access to the whole territory.
In Paris on 20 February, France's President François Hollande and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the ceasefire, which has “been violated several times”, to be “fully respected on the whole of the front line”. “We will continue in the 'Normandy format' (Ed: France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia) to work on ensuring that the Minsk agreements are effected”, said Hollande. The Normandy format foreign ministers will meet in Paris on Tuesday 24 February (our translation throughout). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)