Ukraine Marks Euromaidan's Second Anniversary
By RFE/RL
People across Ukraine are marking the Day of Dignity and Freedom, a holiday commemorating the 2013 beginning of the Euromaidan protests that ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych.
Government officials, Maidan protest participants, and ordinary citizens on November 21 held ceremonies and placed flowers at a Kyiv monument to the "Heavenly Hundred" -- protesters who were killed in clashes with security forces during the protest.
Commemorations were held in other cities as well.
The Euromaidan protest movement began on November 21, 2013, when protesters gathered in central Kyiv after Yanukovych announced he was postponing plans to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union and would seek closer economic ties with Russia.
In February 2104, Yanukovych fled to Russia and was removed from office.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko congratulated the nation on the occasion of the anniversary and announced that he had signed a packet of laws aimed at securing visa-free travel with the EU.
"I know that people are not satisfied with the quality and pace of the [post-Euromaidan] changes," Poroshenko said in a written statement. "The reforms that have been begun have not yet brought about an improvement in living standards. But war has never brought about flourishing. We have endured and are enduring both military action on our territory and far-reaching economic aggression from Russia."
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can follow all out other Ukraine coverage here.
Here's an update from our news desk:
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says the parliaments of all European Union member states have completed the process of ratifying the bloc's Association Agreement with Ukraine.
Poroshenko tweeted that, with the agreement's ratification by the Brussels regional parliament and a Belgian language commission on November 20, all 28 member states have now approved Ukraine's pact with the European Union.
He said in a second tweet that "[The] EU just informed us that all is ready to launch a free trade zone with Ukraine as of Jan. 1, 2016."
The EU is already Ukraine's biggest trading partner, with Kyiv conducting more than one-third of its trade with EU members.
Ukraine signed the political portion of the Association Agreement with Brussels in March 2014, and the economic section three months later.
In September 2014, the establishment of a Ukrainian-EU free-trade zone was postponed until December 31, 2015 after complaints from Russia.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said during a visit to Kyiv last week that the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement will "send a powerful signal that the regulatory environment in Ukraine is modern and efficient."
The EU will gradually lift tariffs and other trade barriers as Ukraine meets conditions set forth in the DCFTA.
(TASS, BBC)