March 16, 2018

Chief EU envoy sees no “fatigue” in support for Ukraine during visit

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Presidential Administration of Ukraine

President Petro Poroshenko with the European Union’s chief foreign policy envoy, Federica Mogherini, in Kyiv on March 12.

KYIV – The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, urged Ukraine to double down on anti-graft efforts and push ahead with reforms that include meeting policy commitments for the Association Agreement in her second visit in that capacity on March 12.

During separate joint briefings with President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, she emphasized giving existing graft-fighting institutions the independence and “enough powers and resources to investigate, prosecute and eventually ensure the conviction of those responsible for corruption.”

The former Italian foreign affairs minister also urged Ukraine’s leadership to finally establish a long-promised independent anti-corruption court that is “fully in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission” – the EU’s advisory body on constitutional law.

Ms. Mogherini, whose five-year term ends next year, also pressed for authorities to follow through on analyzing the income declarations “of officials and high-profile public figures,” in an interview she gave to the UNIAN news agency on March 11 prior to visiting Kyiv.

Further aid from the EU and Washington-based lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) is contingent on the judiciary body’s formation, she added.

On March 1, the Verkhovna Rada passed the president’s version of a bill establishing the anti-graft court in the first of two readings. Experts noted it is not in line with the Venice Commission’s requirements, namely to have judges selected without political influence and with the involvement of international donors.

Perhaps not surprisingly, during the EU envoy’s visit, prosecutors got Parliament’s procedural committee to include a vote to arrest current Opposition Party lawmaker and former Naftogaz Group CEO Yevhen Bakulin on the legislature’s agenda. He is suspected of abusing his position and defrauding the state of more than $336 million while heading the state-run energy conglomerate until March 2014.

It was Ms. Mogherini’s first visit to Kyiv since last year’s breakthrough agreements between the EU and Ukraine went into effect: a far-ranging political and free-trade pact and visa-free travel for Ukrainians.

“I can even speak of successes… for this new phase of our relationship that is really opening up space for improvements in the everyday life of the citizens of Ukraine are fundamentally important also for the EU,” she said during a joint briefing with the president.

Ms. Mogherini added that Ukraine’s rising exports to the EU are the “main driver of economic growth in the country.”

Ukraine’s exports to the 28-nation bloc surged by 21 percent last year – or 10 times as fast as the nation’s economy. In monetary terms, exports increased by $4 billion to $17.5 billion, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Agricultural products comprised the largest share of exports at 32 percent. Last year, Ukraine had a $3.3 billion negative trade balance with the EU.

A commitment to backing Ukraine’s “independence” was also stated by the EU official.

Ms. Mogherini mentioned sanctions announced on the day of her visit that were extended for another six months for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More than 150 individuals and 38 entities had restrictive measures extended “over actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” an EU Council news release stated.

She added that on March 9 the European Commission proposed a fourth macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine worth 1 billion euros if Kyiv meets certain commitments. Namely, the EU expects Kyiv to implement an automated verification system of electronic asset declarations, to verify data on beneficiary owners of companies, and for Parliament to lift a ban on timber exports.

The loan package is subject to approval by the European Parliament and the EU Council.

The loan was smaller than previous ones. Kyiv managed to get only 1.2 billion euros of the 1.6 billion euros that was approved in the last program because it failed to meet EU requirements. Kyiv had met 18 of 21 policy commitments, Kyiv-based Concorde Capital stated in a note to investors.

Additionally, the EU granted 24 million euros two weeks ago for humanitarian aid designated for people affected by the Donbas war, the EU’s envoy said, bringing total humanitarian assistance since 2014 to 700 million euros.

Separately, the European Investment Bank recently gave Ukraine a grant of over 10 million euros to improve energy efficiency at state universities in Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy and Vinnytsia, Ukraine Business Journal reported.

On his part, Mr. Poroshenko called on the EU to recognize Russia as the aggressor in the Donbas war that is entering its fifth year and which has killed over 10,000 people and displaced 1.5 million citizens.

“I’m sure that over four years of Russian aggression against Ukraine, it’s time for the European Union to call the aggressor an aggressor and a party to the conflict,” the president said.

He also stressed that Ukraine should be allowed to purchase weapons from EU member states in accordance with national and international law, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

Concluding, Ms. Mogherini said the EU hasn’t grown tired of Ukraine despite a lackluster economy and war raging in the east.

“This is why there is no fatigue on our side, because we see the aspirations, the desire, the willingness and some first results coming, and we see this as an investment in our common European continent,” she said.

Mr. Poroshenko praised the EU’s support: “This is in relation to how high Ukraine remains among the priorities of the European Union. We are very glad that such… solidarity with Ukraine exists… This is also about the security of the European Union.”

The strong remarks by the EU envoy were a healthy respite from January, when a white paper was published by the European Parliament outlining the political union’s 10 priorities for this year.

Titled, “The Juncker Commission’s Ten Priorities,” after former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, it didn’t mention the Russian-Ukrainian war or the failed peace process. On her personal website, Ms. Mogherini also didn’t specifically mention Ukraine or the Donbas war in a January 1 post called, “Twelve Things to Bring with Us in 2018.”

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