Ukraine should look at positive side of decentralisation – chair of European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs

Ukraine should appreciate the benefits of decentralisation, rather than perceiving the process as a necessary evil mandated by the Minsk Agreements, Elmar Brok, chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, said at the 12th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting.

“I would recommend the [Ukrainian] authorities to put an end to discussions [as to the necessity of decentralisation] as soon as possible,” he said. “We have successful decentralised countries like Switzerland, Austria and Germany. They are civilised countries. We would like for Ukraine to avail of this chance and perceive [decentralisation] not just as a threat and a step that needs to be taken under the Minsk Agreements, but also as an opportunity for further development of your country.”

Brok added that a number of other important reforms, including the reform of prosecution agencies, also remained on Ukraine's agenda.

The 12th Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting will be streamed live at yes-ukraine.org as well as web-sites of the Media Partners in English and Ukrainian.

The official Twitter of the 12^th YES Annual Meeting is @yes_ukraine, and participants and followers can include the hashtag: #YESUkraine2015.