On Monday 14 October, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko announced in the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs that the Ukrainian Parliament would vote on more than 70 laws in just a few weeks. A speed that worries the European Union.
"We are sometimes accused of simply signing a whole series of laws that were being kept at arm’s length. We are trying to push through legislation quickly, such as texts that have been waiting for 5 or 10 years (...) We would rather do this and correct mistakes later than dragging our feet with the reforms", he stressed. The minister hoped to adopt 73 texts within a month.
Mr Prystaiko highlighted the fight against corruption, the reform of the judicial system and the Public Prosecutor’s Office or economic reforms.
The Minister also stated that a summit in Normandy format (leaders of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia), the last of which was held in 2016, would not be held unconditionally at Moscow's request. Thus the 'Steinmeier' formula must be applied, i.e. the law on the special status of the Dombass region "should be applied temporarily for the first day of the local elections and become permanent once the OSCE has said that the elections went well", according to Mr Prystaiko.
In addition, it is necessary to have military disengagement in three test areas. While this disengagement seems to be a given for one area, it is not the case for the other two, as it requires 8 days of continuous ceasefire. "This has not yet been the case, but we hope that before November it will be possible to have the summit later this month or thereabouts", he added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)