Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-11-Speech-4-185"
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".
Mr President, I would like to begin by emphasising the importance the European Union attaches to Ukraine as a strategic partner. This is reflected in our common strategy agreed in 1999 and our cooperation within the framework of the Association and Cooperation Agreement.
I will make a comment on your request for information on the sending of observers to the elections. The priorities for formal missions of electoral observers within the Union have been defined by the Commission and Parliament in close cooperation. Generally speaking, missions as such are not sent to countries which are Member States of the OSCE – as in the case of Ukraine. However, as is customary, we intend to carry out coordination and cooperation work with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE, which is preparing a long-term observation mission. Furthermore, the Commission hopes that the European Parliament will once again send its own team to join with this OSCE mission, as it did for the last parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
I would like to end by assuring you that the Commission is closely following all the issues raised by the honourable Members in this debate within a constructive atmosphere with our Ukrainian partners. Within this context, we are right now producing and applying several specific projects to assist and cooperate with Ukraine in order to make progress on institutional aspects.
With the enlargement of the Union on 1 May, the Union and Ukraine will become neighbouring areas and therefore over the coming years we will have an even greater opportunity to enhance our relations.
Within this context, as you know, we have implemented our neighbourliness initiative which sets ambitious objectives for intensifying cooperation in many areas, basing that cooperation on an unequivocal commitment to shared values and the effective application of political, economic and institutional reforms.
The European Commission therefore appreciates the attention being paid today to the debate on the process of political and constitutional reform under way in Ukraine and particularly the freedom of the press.
These are the issues we must continue to deal with within our current debates. I would also like to make a few comments and point out the importance of the issues within the context of the coming elections in October.
With regard to the substance of the constitutional reforms, I would like to reiterate the statement of 29 January. Naturally, it is Ukraine which must choose its own form of government and its Constitution, in accordance with European democratic standards, but the circumstances and the way in which the debate on this reform is being carried out continue to cause concern.
At the same time, we were pleased to see that the Ukraine parliament, at the beginning of February, adopted proposals for constitutional reform initially intended to take account of the criticisms made by the national opposition and the critical comments of the Council of Europe and the Union. This represents a step forward.
Within the context of the coming elections, the problem of freedom of the press is going to require special attention. On several occasions the Union has insisted on the need for a more transparent relationship between the press and the public powers based on the unequivocal rule of law and the effective protection of the rights of journalists.
The recent judicial decision to close an opposition newspaper and a radio station have raised new serious questions. The Union will therefore continue to clearly express its concerns with regard to the freedom of the press and will continue to insist that the role of the press be adequately respected, as should be the case within the context of freedom, within a democratic system."@en1
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