Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko Lays Out 'Strategy 2020' for EU Membership
Petro Poroshenko urged the European Union to confirm its doors are open.
— -- Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko detailed his "strategy 2020" for EU membership consideration Thursday during his first major news conference in the Ukraine since assuming office in May.
Poroshenko urged the European Union to confirm its doors were open, giving details on 60 separate packages of radical reforms to be implemented as soon as November and over the next six years.
"Thousands have died in the struggle and gave their lives for international and European values," Poroshenko said, referring to ongoing unrest in Ukraine that has included the annexation of the former Ukrainian region of Crimea by Russia and rebellion in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
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In fact, Ukraine's parliament already approved an agreement with the EU on Sept. 16, placing the country on the path towards membership after seven years of negotiations. However, former president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement, triggering the civil unrest that led him to resign.
"Our victory was too late," Poroshenko said added. "When we were under Soviet rule, we did not develop as a nation. We need to close this gap as soon as possible."
"We have to dismantle the feudal system of our economy, open our market and our democracy," Poroshenko said.
"The priority," he said, "is the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption."
Poroshenko said he wanted to create a Ukrainian FBI, an anti-corruption bureau. He added that law enforcement regulations, tax reform and deregulation of entrepreneurship would all be equally important.
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