KYIV. Jan 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine in 2015 moved forward on the way of reforms, and the positive decision of the European Commission on the visa free regime for Ukrainians and the launch of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) are evidences of this, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“Despite fierce counteraction of Kremlin, DCFTA with the EU entered into full force on January 1. Unprecedented migration crisis did not hinder the decision of the European Commission on the completion of the assessment mission on the implementation of the Visa Liberalization Plan of Actions and we obtained the decision on the visa-free regime though several months ago few people believed in that inside and outside the country,” Poroshenko said at a first press conference in 2016 in Kyiv on Thursday.
The positive decision of the European Commission on the visa-free regime “is the indicator of positive assessment of reforms in Ukraine by the EU and the world,” he said.
Poroshenko said that reforms in 2015 were launched in various spheres, but not all of them have yielded results yet.
“Nowhere and never did the war lead to thriving of the country. We are now facing military aggression against our country, military actions on our land. It is not just a military aggression. Since January 1, a powerful large-scale economic aggression has been started imposing embargo on a great range of Ukrainian goods,” he said.
Commenting on the achievement of Ukrainian authorities in 2015, Poroshenko said that the country “ensured the activity and capability of the international coalition in support of Ukraine.”
“A very bright demonstration of this fact was the vote of 177 UN countries electing Ukraine a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council,” he said.
“When you come to Yavoriv training center [Lviv region], you will see dozens of flags of our allies. These flags are a symbol of our military-technical cooperation with various countries of the world,” the head of state said.
“Last year ended with a decision of all 28 EU members on the prolongation of sanctions against Russia for its continuous aggression against Ukraine and non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. I guess you all know that it required certain efforts from our Ukrainian team. Increasing economic crisis of Russia is a price for aggression against Ukraine,” Poroshenko said.
