At the meeting with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko emphasized the importance of the EU’s further support for the introduction of reforms in Ukraine and implementation of the Association Agreement.

In the course of the press availability, the High Representative of the European Union emphasized that the EU stayed united in its support for Ukraine regarding the de-escalation in Donbas, the issue of Crimea and the support for reforms in Ukraine.

The parties have discussed the program of reforms in details. “I am grateful that we have a constant political support at the level of advisors in the issue of reforms in Ukraine,” the President said.

The interlocutors paid special attention to the constitutional reform on decentralization. The President stressed that the EU representatives had highly assessed our efforts in the preparation of the reform to the second reading.

The President of Ukraine informed the Vice-President of the European Commission on the constitutional reform on judiciary. Today, the National Council of Reforms will hold the final discussion of it. The Head of State is hopeful that the given draft law approved by the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Union and many international expert institutions would be submitted to the Parliament by the end of this week.

The President expressed gratefulness for the macro-financial assistance, which is crucial for ensuring financial stability of the country.

Petro Poroshenko emphasized that since February 2015, the EU had provided more than EUR 100 million of humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the accommodation of IDPs. Today, the parties discussed the possibility of further cooperation in this sphere.

Special attention was paid to the implementation of the plan on the introduction of the visa-free regime with the EU. “Praising the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities on the fulfillment of this plan, we have emphasized the exceptional importance of parliamentary voting on the laws necessary for the fulfillment of the undertaken commitments by the Ukrainian party. I hope the laws will be adopted tomorrow or by the end of the week,” the President said.

“These are not special demands for Ukraine. These are equal requirements for all the parties-candidates for the EU membership or the visa-free regime. I am grateful to the Vice-President for confirming the EU’s willingness to provide the visa-free regime for Ukraine in case of fulfilling all the reforms discussed with our European colleagues, inter alia, anti-corruption reform, asset recovery, labor legislation and non-discrimination,” Petro Poroshenko noted. He intends to explain the importance of those steps at today’s meeting with heads of parliamentary factions.

The Head of State thanked the Vice-President of the European Commission for actively supporting the Ukrainian reformist efforts. The President noted successful coordination of actions with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk.

Petro Poroshenko informed that Ukraine had recently received a letter from the President of the European Commission in which he had clearly emphasized the need for the advancement in the implementation of reforms. “I am grateful to everyone. We should advance and demonstrate progress in all the reforms required for the implementation of the Association Agreement,” the Head of State said. According to the President, Ukraine has recently settled the issue on the members of the commission on the selection of anti-corruption prosecutors.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy informed that the parties had paid substantial attention to the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which would enter into force on January 1, 2016. She noted significant efforts made for the implementation of provisions of the given agreement during the preparation for that date, inter alia, active mediation of the EU in gas negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Federica Mogherini emphasized the priority of anti-corruption reforms, “that are key for the formation of trust, stable development of all spheres of reformation, implementation of trade component of the Association Agreement and fulfillment of the plan of actions on the liberalization of the visa-free regime”. She also stressed the necessity of immediate transparent formation of anti-corruption bodies.