The Council of Europe has noted progress in democratic reform in Ukraine, but says the country still has a long way to go to fully implement its commitments to the Council of Europe, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon has said.
“I have noted, we all have noted the transformations and implementation [of the commitments] that Ukraine has made on its path towards democracy. But I would like to say that 18 years of membership (of Ukraine of the Council of Europe) is both a long way and a short period of time. We fully understand that you need more time to fully meet the requirements and fulfill the obligations that you have taken on,” he said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Mignon said he was visiting Ukraine as an experienced partner. At the same time, the PACE president said that he believes that they should help, rather than preach.
“I have come here not to meticulously monitor the fulfillment of the obligations and not to talk about it. I am here as a partner, and as such I have the experience, as well as expertise and knowledge of what to do. But I certainly have no desire to teach any lessons to anyone. Our role is to help each other,” the PACE president said.
He also noted that not only Ukraine has obligations to the Council of Europe, but also vice versa.
Speaking about the current composition of the Council of Europe, he noted that this organization is not the same as it was in 1948.
“New countries, your country, other new democracies have changed the face of the modern Council of Europe,” he said.
In turn, President Yanukovych expressed the hope that Ukraine and the Council of Europe will jointly monitor the fulfillment of the country’s obligations and the timely implementation of the action plan developed jointly to run until 2014.
“I hope that we will work together as partners to monitor this work, and certainly succeed in the timely implementation of this action plan,” the head of state said.
The president said Ukraine had always been aware of its obligations to the Council of Europe and has recently taken serious steps to implement them.
According to Yanukovych, one of such steps was the development in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. He said that Ukraine is currently working on its implementation. A law on the legal profession has been already adopted and the work on a law on the prosecutor’s office was in progress.
The meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and PACE was also attended by Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak.
