Ukraine minister criticizes Orban for doubting Euro-Atlantic aspirations

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Ukraine’s vice prime minister
for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, criticized on July 31 comments made
by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that he “doesn’t believe in the
realism of the aspirations of Ukraine to join the EU or NATO.” Russia wants to
restore the old order and maintain its influence in Ukraine, Orban told
students in Romania, as reported by the agerpres.ro news agency.

In her response on her Facebook page,
Klympush-Tsintsadze warned Orban that Hungary could just as well fall back
under Russian influence as Ukraine can. “After decades of occupation, Hungary
went down the same path as we are currently,” she wrote. “But someone
stubbornly doesn’t want to see that, trying to reduce the reform efforts of a
country fighting for its freedom ‘to zero.’ But such ‘blindness’ shouldn’t
discourage us. We know that we are conducting reforms not for Brussels or
Budapest, but for ourselves.”

Zenon Zawada: Ukraine
joining the EU is far more realistic than joining NATO, which Russian President
Putin has made clear he will not allow. But to the investment community, what’s
critical is that the Ukrainian government continue to conduct reforms and adopt
norms and regulations that bring legal and business conditions closer to
transparent Euro-Atlantic standards.

Improving the conditions of rule of law is of most
importance, something that Ukrainian President Poroshenko has failed to do in
any significant way. If he is re-elected, we don’t expect much improvement in
this sphere, even with the launch of an anti-corruption court, as evidenced by
the current conflict and accusations within Ukraine’s newly created
anti-corruption bodies that were sponsored by the West.