German Foreign Minister: Ukraine needs a zero tolerance policy on corruption
On the 23rd of February, at the talks in Kiev, the Foreign Ministers of Germany and France called on the Ukrainian authorities to uproot corruption and to adopt electoral law in the regions of the Donbas controlled by separatists as soon as possible.
“It is necessary to push ahead with the implementation of economic reforms. However, it is extremely important that this policy is based on a zero tolerance for corruption,” the Foreign Minister of France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated during the joint press conference with the Foreign Ministers of France and Ukraine.
He noted that such a high number of ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine are unacceptable for Europe. In addition, the fact that electoral law in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics has yet to be adopted is also unacceptable for Europe.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, stated that Berlin, Kiev and Paris intend to convince Moscow to hold elections in the Donbas in accordance with the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine shouldn’t legitimize the leadership of the self-proclaimed Republics, he noted.
“Constitutional amendments shouldn’t legitimize those who are in power there and came to power due to fake elections,” the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. According to him, the purpose of constitutional amendments should be to give the residents of the Donbas the ability to achieve political self-determination and free expression of the will of the people.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that the European Union will continue to support Ukraine under the condition that its policy will be decisive, sustainable and reliable. Ukraine shouldn’t stop halfway in the completion of reforms and without prospects in the war zone. “This would be the worst-case scenario,” Ayrault believes.
The ‘positional war’ in Ukrainian politics should be stopped, the European Ministers believe. “Now, there can be no talk about personal attitudes and a struggle for power,” the DPA Agency quotes Steinmeier as saying. The meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in the Normandy format (Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France) is scheduled for the 3rd of March.