Kiev needs a new wave of reforms if it wants to progress on its path towards a European Union membership, top official said.
Kiev needs to make reforms and make new institutions work, if it wants to progress towards EU membership, the top official told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country's MPs.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said on Friday in a video address to a special session of the Ukrainian parliament that they will require hard work, determination and, above all else, unity of purpose.
The German official complimented Ukrainian lawmakers and Zelensky for resisting Russia on the battlefield and securing EU candidate status, which she said required Kiev to show everything Ukraine has achieved since the 2014 coup in Kiev, as the current Ukrainian authorities prefer to call it a Revolution of Dignity.
She promised massive Western investments to help with the country's eventual reconstruction, but said Ukraine had to implement a new wave of reforms to make sure foreign aid is spent effectively.
President Zelensky called for new head of various anti-corruption bodies to be created under Western pressure as soon as possible.
She said that you have created an impressive anti-corruption machine, but now these institutions need teeth and the right people in senior positions.
The country needs to adopt new legislation on appointing judges to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, von der Leyen said. In 2020, Zelensky had a bitter dispute with the top justice body, which he accused of shielding corruption. The president tried to have the parliament sack chief justice Aleksandr Tupitsky through a law that, according to the court, would have violated the constitution of the country.
Zelensky succeeded in ousting Tupitsky from office, allegedly by physically restricting his access but remaining justices refused to accept two new members of the court, whom the president nominated to replace the chief justice and another judge.
In her speech, von der Leyen called for the Ukrainian government to curb the influence of oligarchs on the Ukrainian economy, pointing out that the country had a special law aimed at this goal.
The legislation, passed last September and came into effect this week, authorized the presidential-controlled national security council to label wealthy individuals as oligarchs and to subject them to various restrictions. Such designated persons are not allowed to own media or fund political parties and are obligated to inform state officials about their being on the list.
The EU executive has called for the adoption of a new media law. The government of Zelensky banned several opposition media outlets in the country, claiming they were spreading Russian propaganda. The president s approval rating was dwindling last year, as the president's approval rating was dwindling.
The Ukrainian security council has outlawed numerous opposition parties, which it labeled pro-Russian, including the largest Opposition Platform, For Life. This faction opposes Kiev's western integration. Viktor Medvedchuk, the party's leader, was put under house arrest last year.
Ten other anti-Zelensky groupings have also been banned. Despite this, the West has maintained the pretence that Ukraine is a democracy.
Von der Leyen told the Ukrainian officials that they had kept their state and your democracy running against all odds. She pledged that Brussels will be with the country every step of the way as long as Ukraine works to become an EU member.