Ukraine president to support civil service reforms

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko informed EU Commissioner Vera Jourova that he will support parliamentary approval of the second reading of the “On civil service” law, the EU Delegation to Ukraine reported on its Facebook page on Sept. 24. EU experts are ready to offer help in completing work on the legislation, which “creates the basis of an all-encompassing reform of the system of state service,” said EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, according to the post. After the bill’s approval and a strategy is prepared to implement it, the EU will be ready to offer financial support to fulfill the reforms, he said.

On Sept. 18, Poroshenko reportedly spoke of the need to withdraw the bill from parliament, alleging the EU recalled funding because it’s dissatisfied with the legislation. The EU delegation denied this claim on Sept. 22, stating it supports its soonest approval.

Zenon Zawada: The saving grace in Ukraine’s post-Maidan reforms campaign is the active involvement of Western structures in ensuring top state officials fulfill the necessary measures to improve governance. It’s still not clear just who was responsible for the incorrect information that the president referred to last week. But this episode proves that the situation in government has improved considerably since the Yanukovych era. Corrupt and incompetent officials remain, but their recommendations and decisions can be challenged by activists, with support from the West.