EU-Ukraine: In Kyiv about Crimean Tatars and implementation of reforms
Kyiv (16 May) - Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle visited Kyiv on Friday to start the work on practical implementation of the conclusions from the joint meeting between the European Commission and the Ukrainian government which took place in Brussels on Tuesday.
He met with the acting President Oleksandr Turchinov, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, representatives of the Civil Society and Crimean Tatars. He also participated and spoke at the event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the deportations of the Crimean Tatars (read the speech here).
At the end of the visit Commissioner spoke to the media and said this:
„I have stopped counting my visits to Ukraine so I will not start with saying how many times I came this year or in total. I will start saying that I have the feeling that our cooperation with Ukraine is now entering a new phase.
Let me underline one important thing: we are united in our determination to help Ukraine, we are determined to help Ukraine today and also in the future. There are important things happening in Ukraine: this country is preparing for presidential elections, it is engaged in the national roundtable and it is good that this dialogue is moving to the East of the country to address the real issues of people there. I talked about it with the Prime Minister and President, and made two points: make sure that this process is inclusive as much as possible and make sure that in that process we address the real issues that are close to people´s minds and hearts.
The situation when authorities try to de-escalate the situation also opens more space for us to deliver on our commitments of solidarity with Ukraine and its people.
The main reason of my trip this time is to make operational the results of a very productive joint meeting between the European Commission and the Ukrainian government in Brussels on Tuesday. Let me underline that it was unprecedented meeting, for the first time the European Commission had such top executive to top executive dialogue with a non-EU member state.
I brought with me the European Agenda for Reform. This is a document which does not substitute the Association Agreement. It is not a substitute of other important documents that guide our cooperation. It is to underpin the priority to stabilise the economy and finances of the country in the first stage. And in the second stage to help the authorities and the country as a whole to prepare for the most effective implementation of the Association Agreement.
I brought with me Peter Balas - the Head of the Ukraine Support Group. Only very recently the European Commission has decided to create this group to deal with the challenges in Ukraine. Through this Group we will better understand your needs and we will be able to deliver faster on your needs, to show visible and tangible results for the benefit of all Ukrainians.
I had long and very productive discussion with the Prime Minister on creation of a coordination unit within the government for an effective coordination - not only between the Support group of the Commission but also for a coordination with the donors platform which we created with number of third countries and International Financial Institutions some time ago.
The next point is about the Civil Society. I believe that its role is indispensable - not only monitoring the reforms but also contributing to the inclusive character of reforms and their implementation. We made the European agenda for Reform available to the Civil Society and we ask them, call on them, to make the Ukrainian government and also us accountable for implementing all those reform steps which are covered by this document.
Finally, let me pass one message to people and first of all politicians: do what you can for the future of your country, make the presidential election on 25 May a success! I call on all politicians to stay on board until the very end of this process and to provide all Ukrainians at this difficult but important time with the opportunity to decide about their future.“