Volodymyr Zelensky does not meet EU expectations as President of Ukraine

Oct. 26, 2021 - PRLog -- PenzaNews. The next EU-Ukraine summit held in Kiev did not bring any breakthrough results. Its most significant outcome is considered to be the signing of the agreement on the Common Aviation Area, on Ukraine's participation in the Horizon Europe research and innovation program, as well as in the Creative Europe program.

Speaking of the EU membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Ukrainian society does not have a sufficient understanding of when the country will reach the home stretch in the process of European integration.

"Our society [...] and the leaders of the country lack the understanding that we are following the same path, about where the finish line on this path is and whether there is one, because we really believe in it and do everything along the way, we do everything to come to that finish in the near future," he said after the talks at the summit.

Meanwhile, in Europe, criticism is increasingly heard in connection with the low efficiency of the reforms being carried out in Ukraine. Thus, the previously published report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on the results of the audit of assistance to Kiev, says that the EU's support for reforms in Ukraine was ineffective in fighting grand corruption.

"While the EU has helped to reduce corruption opportunities, grand corruption remains a key problem in Ukraine. Judicial reform is experiencing setbacks, anti-corruption institutions are at risk, trust in such institutions remains low, and the number of convictions resulting from grand corruption is small," the report says.

Another negative trend, which, according to some experts, is at odds with the EU position, is connected with the attempts to close dissenting mass media and political parties that express different points of view. Many observers note that instead of pluralism of opinions, state propaganda is being imposed in the country, especially in part of Crimea. At the same time, the Crimean Platform summit, initiated by the Ukrainian authorities, in their opinion, failed since it was initially aimed at Western partners as another game for the audience in order to enlist their support but not to search for real solutions.

Meanwhile, a possible second presidential term for Volodymyr Zelensky is being discussed in Ukraine now, though he denied the likelihood of such a decision during his pre-election period. In particular, such a statement was recently made by Oleksiy Arestovich, the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine.

Read the full article: https://penzanews.ru/en/analysis/67297-2021