Ukraine Parliament Ratifies Autonomy for Eastern Regions, EU Partnership
KYIV – The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday ratified a bill granting three years of autonomy to the eastern oblasts of Donetsk and Lugansk, which are controlled by the pro-Russia separatist militia.
It also ratified the nation’s association agreement with the European Union (EU), which comes into force in November and will be applied in full by 2016.
The autonomy law, ratified in a closed session by 277 of the 450 lawmakers, will affect one third of the border areas with Russia, where the separatists’ militia are active. It stipulates that Donetsk and Lugansk should hold local elections on Dec. 7 to choose its representative to Kyiv.
As suggested by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the law will allow the free usage of Russian language in all sectors, including education, which is considered one of the demands of the separatists and by the Kremlin.
In addition, 287 lawmakers supported another draft law giving militants who did not commit major crimes or participate in downing the Malaysian airlines plane last July, or halted the international investigation regarding the incident, a general amnesty.
The law also stipulates that the militias should be disarmed within a month, free all prisoners and evacuate the governmental buildings they occupy.
The separatists responded to the decisions shortly, as the leader of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk Alexandr Zakharchenko said that the militias support the decisions if they mean independence.
“If the deputies voted in favor of our independence, then we can only applaud,” he said, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
The insurgents are seeking independence, total administrative government in the two eastern oblasts and the ability to establish economic relations with neighboring Russia.
The law bans local authorities in the areas controlled by insurgents from establishing relations with their counterpart in Russian border areas unless it is through a border cooperation agreement between governments.
In addition, parliament ratified the EU association agreement with the approval of 351 lawmakers. The session was attended by Poroshenko, who announced the law took account of the agreement ratified by the European and Ukrainian Parliament and signed by Poroshenko in Brussels on June 27.
The Ukrainian government is set to announce soon a program of reforms that would make legislation in Kyiv compatible with the European standards of freedom of speech, corruption combating, investments’ laws, visas and protection of intellectual property.
Poroshenko said that the agreement would take effect “from the first minute” despite the fact that the free trade zone between Kyiv and EU member states will not be established immediately.
Ukraine, the EU and Russia agreed last Friday to delay application of the trade agreement to 2016, after Moscow threatened to take measures to protect its market.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the EU-Ukraine partnership as a threat to Russia’s economy, as the Ukrainian markets will be full of quality European products with relatively low prices.
Poroshenko demanded that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delay of the decrease of customs on European products entering Ukrainian market.
The EU also vowed not to apply customs preferences on Ukrainian products in European countries until the agreement is officially in force.
Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, asked on Monday to document the agreement reached on Friday to delay the application of EU-Ukraine trade agreement.
Moscow threatened that if this step is not taken, it will cancel customs preferences that Ukraine enjoys as a former state of the Soviet Union.
The agreement signed is the one that led to the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych after he refused to sign it, triggering massive protests against his regime and the start of the Ukrainian crisis in the eastern regions of the country.