The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, visited Ukraine ,on Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 March, to underline the EU’s support for the country.
In particular, Mr Michel highlighted the EU’s advice and financial and technical support in Kiev to implement the reforms. “Substantial progress has been made, but much remains to be done, especially in the areas of Rule of law, judicial reform and the fight against corruption”, he said.
“A comprehensive reform of the judicial system is urgently needed to re-engage the main bodies of judicial governance and to establish a new transparent and merit-based selection procedure for judges of the High Council of Justice. These reforms are complex and difficult. They require courage and strong leadership”, he warned.
The President of the European Council also recalled the EU’s assistance in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. “The EU has already provided €190 million to Ukraine to fight Covid, as well as €1.2 billion in macro-financial assistance. And we are helping Ukraine to gain access to Covid vaccines”, he explained. Although the President of the European Commission had called for vaccines to be delivered to Ukraine on 8 February, no Member State responded. “The COVAX Facility, massively supported by the EU, has allocated a significant amount of vaccines to Ukraine. I will personally engage to speed up the delivery”, promised Mr Michel. Ukraine has so far secured 12 million doses of AstraZeneca from India.
In the east of Ukraine, and after gathering at the Maidan memorial in Kiev, the President of the European Council reaffirmed “the EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “We are on the European continent in 2021 and there is a war going on. This is a shameful reality”, he denounced, reiterating the European support for the efforts made within the framework of the Normandy Format and the tripartite contact group.
He said the EU stands ready to support efforts towards a comprehensive ceasefire, more crossing points and further de-mining operations. He announced that the EU would, among other things, fund crossing points.
The President also reiterated that the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia would remain in force because Russia has not taken the steps to implement the Minsk agreements. “Russia is not a mediator, it’s a party to this conflict. We expect it to ensure that the OSCE Special Observation Mission has full access to areas of Ukraine not controlled by the government. The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to further separate these territories from Ukraine. We also call on Russia to rejoin the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination”, he advocated.
Finally, Mr Michel said that the EU wanted to support the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Crimean Platform Summit initiative, scheduled for 23 August and aimed at mobilising a more effective international response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.
Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the 30th EU/Ukraine Summit would be held by the end of August 2021. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)