On Tuesday, 17 March, within the framework of the visit of the highest officials of the Baltic and Nordic parliaments to Ukraine, Gundars Daudze, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima, met with Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe. During the meeting, participants addressed the situation in Ukraine, as well as the role and extent of parliamentary support to the reform processes in Ukraine.
A number of changes are directly linked with improvement of the legal framework; therefore, Thorbjørn Jagland highlighted the role of the Verkhovna Rada in implementing the reforms in Ukraine. In this context, the highest officials of the Baltic and Nordic parliaments informed the Secretary General about the joint initiative aimed at sharing experience with members of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as with staff members of the Ukrainian parliament working with draft laws.
Officials agreed that right now it is important for Ukraine to improve its political culture by making the decision-making process more transparent and understandable to society, as well as to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny over the government’s work. The Deputy Speaker of the Saeima emphasised that it is necessary to promote active participation and involvement of civic society in political processes and to improve communication with society.
Participants of the meeting also confirmed that Europe will continue to extend support to Ukraine provided that this Eastern Partnership country is willing to receive such support and demonstrates it by continuing the reform process and approximating European values. Gundars Daudze indicated that one of the key areas of focus for Ukraine should be ensuring true parliamentary democracy. The newly-elected members of the Verkhovna Rada who have no former parliamentary experience but who do have a strong commitment to change the existing system have a special role in this process. The Deputy Speaker noted that participation of these newly-elected Ukrainian MPs in the experience exchange initiative launched by the Baltic and Nordic countries could be of significant benefit to Ukraine’s reform process. “It is important to strengthen the political party system in Ukraine and to turn the single-leader parties into political organisations united by common political values and goals, as well as by a clear vision on how to achieve these goals,” indicated Gundars Daudze.
With regard to the situation in Ukraine, Deputy Speaker Daudze noted that “over the last month positive trends can be observed in the Eastern Ukraine; however, the cease-fire remains fragile. Therefore, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine should continue monitoring and assessing the observation of cease-fire conditions and withdrawal of heavy weapons”. Concurrently, the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima emphasised that the monitoring mission should be granted access to territories from which weapons have been withdrawn, as well as access to information on the amount and location of weapons.
Gundars Daudze also acknowledged that the only way to stabilise the situation in the Eastern Ukraine is to ensure the implementation of the Minsk Agreements; therefore, monitoring of the Ukraine-Russia border remains of crucial importance.
From 15 to 17 March, the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima takes part in the meeting of the speakers of the Baltic and Nordic countries. Within the framework of the meeting, the highest officials of Baltic-Nordic parliaments visit Ukraine in order to attest in person to unwavering support to the territorial integrity of this Eastern Partnership country and to discuss the situation the Eastern Ukraine with Ukrainian public officials.
Saeima Press Service