The 21st EU-Ukraine Summit took place yesterday in Kyiv, reaffirming the strong partnership and shared commitment to a comprehensive reform agenda.
“The European Union’s partnership with Ukraine is one of mutual solidarity and friendship. It is also one that is flourishing: we have achieved more progress together in the last five years than we did in the two decades before. Ukraine has taken up ambitious reform commitments. The EU, in turn, has provided Ukraine with unprecedented support, from financial and expert support, to autonomous trade measures, and almost 3 million visa-free visits to the EU for Ukrainian citizens to date. This, alongside continued unity on sanctions, shows the EU’s commitment to Ukraine – one that remains unwavering,” said President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who represented the European Union alongside European Council President, Donald Tusk.
The Summit recognised the substantial progress made by Ukraine in its reform process, which the European Union and European Financial Institutions have supported with over €15 billion since 2014.
At the Summit, the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Policy, Johannes Hahn, who participated at the summit alongside High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini, signed four programmes worth €109 million to further support decentralisation, the fight against corruption, the empowerment of civil society, and accountable and efficient governance in Ukraine.
In addition, to help mitigate the impact of Russia’s destabilising actions in the Sea of Azov region, the European Union has mobilised €10 million, coming on top of existing measures, to support local economic diversification and small businesses, local civil society and citizens’ involvement in decision-making, the improvement of community security and public safety.
The European Union has also pledged an additional €17.7 million in humanitarian funding in response to the conflict in the east of Ukraine.
