European Parliament approves resolution on European Commission's reports for 2023-24 on Ukraine's progress in reforms – Poroshenko

The European Parliament at its session on Tuesday approved by a convincing majority the Resolution on the European Commission's reports for 2023-2024 on Ukraine's progress on the path of reforms in the context of enlargement, said Ukrainian MP, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko, who is on a working visit to Strasbourg.

"European partners stand side by side in our fight against the aggressor. Europe has already supported Ukraine with military aid worth EUR 50 billion and calls for providing Ukraine with more weapons and ammunition before the completion of any negotiations, significantly increasing the exchange of intelligence with Ukraine; calls for the lifting of all restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems provided to Ukraine against military targets in Russia. The EU insists on Ukraine's integration into defense initiatives and encourages the development of joint projects for the production of weapons with EU and NATO partners," Poroshenko said on Facebook.

According to him, on the issue of opening accession negotiations, the position of the European Parliament "is clearly pro-Ukrainian and consists of the need to quickly open the ‘Basis’ negotiating cluster for Ukraine and Moldova."

The MP considers the assessment of the state of affairs in Ukraine with the effectiveness of democratic institutions, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary as "honest, objective and friendly." According to Poroshenko, the resolution identifies the weak points of Ukrainian democracy and reforms, "without progress in which the negotiations on membership cannot be accelerated."

"First: the rule of law and the judicial system. The EP is sounding the alarm over the paralysis of the Constitutional Court and the vulnerability of the judiciary to political influence. This is a question of trust in the state. Second: the independence and effectiveness of the anti-corruption architecture. The resolution supports NABU and SAPO and demands their protection from any political influence, strengthening ARMA, restarting the State Bureau of Investigation and resolving the issue of selecting HACC judges," he said.

"Third: democracy and parliamentary pluralism. The EP calls for refraining from politically motivated trials and sanctions against opposition representatives, as well as supporting parliamentary pluralism and promoting constructive dialogue between political factions in the Verkhovna Rada, lifting restrictions on international parliamentary diplomacy. Fourth: freedom of the media and civil society. The EP emphasizes the inadmissibility of monopolizing the airwaves and pressuring independent media," Poroshenko emphasized.