Kyiv, July 23, 2014 – “The ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU is one of the priority issues that have to be discussed in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine during the nearest session assemblies,” stated Hrygoriy Nemyria, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration, during a press briefing in the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center. “Our colleagues from Georgia and Moldova have already gone through with the procedure, and there is no reason in Ukraine as of today to delay the ratification of the Agreement.”
Iryna Gerashchenko, deputy chairman of the Committee on European Integration, adds in accordance with her colleague: “We expect that the President will propose to ratify the Association Agreement with the EU in the nearest future, and it will be supported without any doubt, as today all political powers in the Verkhovna Rada, save for the communists, support this document.” At the same time Ms. Gerashchenko emphasized that all procedures and statutes presumed by legislation have to be adhered to when ratifying the agreement.
Oleh Rybachuk, Chair and co-founder of Centre UA, thinks that a special body should be created in Ukraine, which would specialized in issues of European integration, as the main issues will emerge at the implementation stage. Such bodies functioned successfully in other European countries, therefore Ukraine, to Mr. Rybachuk’s mind, should replicate this experience.
Mikheil Ukleba, Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine, who was present at the press briefing, noted: “Ukraine and Georgia went through a long and complex path, and despite the numerous challenges, we did not waver on our way to European integration. This process cannot be stopped, we will definitely overcome all difficulties and become dignified members of the European community, however a lot of work has to be done for this to happen.”
