On 8-9 November, the European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn visited Ukraine. Within the framework of the official visit, he met with Artem Sytnyk, NABU Director, and Eka Tkeshelashvili, Head of the EUACI.
Johannes Hahn stressed on the need to launch the High Anti-Corruption Court in the nearest future and commended the results of work of NABU. In addition, he noted that it is extremely important to ensure the independence and effective functioning of all anti-corruption institutions in Ukraine.
‘First of all, I would like to commend the effectiveness of NABU. The Agency has managed to achieve excellent results despite strong pressure against it. Hundreds of the NABU detectives are doing very important and hard work every day. Both international community and Ukrainian people expect the rapid establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court. So, the NABU’s cases can be considered independently and on unbiased basis. And corrupt officials will be punished,’ he said.
Following the meeting, the European Commissioner and NABU Director held a joint press briefing.
Johannes Hahn arrived to Ukraine on an official visit to discuss progress in reforms and confirm the strong support of the Ukrainian civil society by the European Union. During the visit the EU-Commissioner met with activists, NGOs and key representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, including the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
The European Commissioner also handed an annual report on implementation of the commitments under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The document notes that over the past year, Ukraine has made progress in a number of important areas, but the EU draws attention to the need to strengthen the pace of reforms in the areas of the judiciary and anti-corruption measures.
More details about the EU report can be found here.
