By KYIV. Oct 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The top priority for Ukraine is readiness to make a political decision this year regarding the start of negotiations on EU membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, speaking via video link at the European Commission on Tuesday.
“I hope that for the European Union too,” he added, citing as an example the steps negotiations taken by Ukraine in preparations for EU membership.
“We have adopted and begun to implement the law on the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court, which corresponds to the conclusions of the Venice Commission. There is already a group of experts that will evaluate candidates: three experts were appointed based on proposals from our international partners as a guarantee of openness and fairness in the selection of judges. And we’re starting a competition,” Zelenskyy said.
“The second is the reform of the High Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges. The reboot of these key bodies launched the process of updating the entire judicial system of Ukraine,” he noted.
Zelenskyy recalled the adoption of a law on the resumption of electronic declarations of officials and their checks during martial law.
“We ensure that our legislation complies with the requirements of the FATF. An absolutely outstanding step is the adoption of the law on politically exposed persons,” he emphasized.
“Work continues to protect society and the state from abuses inspired by oligarchs. Important antimonopoly legislation has been adopted. Ukrainian legislation in the field of media is coordinated with the norms of the European Union,” Zelenskyy noted.
“We affirm the protection of diversity in Ukraine through the protection of the rights of national communities. Relevant legislative changes have already been adopted, in particular, the law on national minorities, and a clear vision of the next steps in the educational sphere has been developed. There is also a state target program Unity in Diversity. All this opens new and broad opportunities for national communities,” the President said.
