The Verkhovna Rada may receive the European Commission opinion on Ukraine’s adoption of the so-called visa-free laws package in three to four days, said first deputy speaker Andriy Parubiy.
He noted that if the European Commission has any remarks, the Ukrainian parliament could make the necessary amendments.
According to Ukrainian deputies, the European Commission has to give its preliminary conclusions about Ukraine’s implementation of the action plan on visa liberalization on November 24.
Another update from our news desk on what has been a busy day for the Ukrainian parliament:
Ukraine's parliament has approved a resolution recognizing the mass deportations of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide.
The resolution adopted on November 12 also says that May 18 will be marked in Ukraine as the Day of Remembrance of the victims.
Crimean Tatar activists have been pressuring Ukrainian authorities for years to recognize the deportations as genocide.
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people of Crimea, on May 18, 1944 on the grounds that they had allegedly collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
More than 180,000 were deported to Central Asia and Siberia. An estimated 40 percent of those deportees died during the journey or within a year of being exiled.
Crimean Tatars were allowed to return to Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in the late 1980s, before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Most Crimean Tatars openly opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014.
(UNIAN, uatoday.tv)
The Ukrainian parliament's antidiscrimination bill has not convinced everyone, it seems:
Ukrainian deputies approved changes to the draft law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on State Property Management.
Now every state enterprise or economic entity where the state’s share is over 50 percent must have a supervisory board, which may include independent members. Also, the yearly reporting of such entities will be subject to audit.
“It a unique thing that allows us to solve three key questions...a yearly audit of state companies, public information on government websites – and not through court hearings on how these audits turn out – and third, the structure of managing these companies changes,” said Batkivshchyna deputy Serhiy Sobolyev.
The Ukrainian parliament approved the establishment of a State Investigations Bureau that would take some of the responsibilities currently held by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Among the main tasks of the bureau is investigating crimes related to criminal organizations, cases of torture and other crimes related to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment by law enforcement staff. The bureau would also deal with crimes committed by National Anti-Corruption Bureau officials.
The Ukrainian president will appoint a director of the State Investigations Bureau after selection by a special commission and based on the proposal of the prime minister.
“[This law] makes us closer to Europe and makes our law enforcement more civilized and professional,” said Andriy Kozhemyakin, Chairman of the parliament's Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement.
And speaking of the Donbas, here is today's map of the situation in the conflict zone, courtesy of Ukraine's Defense Ministry (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
