EU Delegation Head: Find Out Where Officials Got Their Money

What You Need To Know:

✅ “Ukraine has begun making important reforms in the sphere of the rule of law especially in the fight against corruption and the electronic declaration of the income of public servants;”
✅ Shocked by the sums of money revealed by Ukrainian public officials in their E-declarations, Mingarelli says that it is up to Ukraine’s competent agencies to now figure out where this money came from;
✅ The European Parliament and the European Council are currently negotiating a mechanism for the suspension of a visa-free regime to be used in certain situations, which would be applicable to all countries, not only Ukraine;
✅ “It’s a technical problem; there are no political obstacles to the visa-free regime with Ukraine.”

Hugues Mingarelli, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine sat down with Hromadske to discuss the country’s progress and its future relations with the European Union. According to him, “Ukraine has begun making important reforms in the sphere of the rule of law especially in the fight against corruption and the electronic declaration of the income of public servants.”

While shocked by the sums of money revealed by Ukrainian public officials in their E-declarations, Mingarelli says that it is up to Ukraine’s competent agencies to now figure out where this money came from, and to return it if need be.

In terms of Ukraine’s future visa-free regime with the European Union, and the fear of constant setbacks, Mingarelli assures that Ukrainians have nothing to worry about. “Several months ago, the European Commission determined that Ukraine had fulfilled its obligations for the implementation of a visa-free regime,” he says.

The European Parliament and the European Council are currently negotiating a mechanism for the suspension of a visa-free regime to be used in certain situations, which would be applicable to all countries, not only Ukraine. “It’s a technical problem; there are no political obstacles to the visa-free regime with Ukraine.”

Hromadske spoke to Hugues Mingarelli, the head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, on 15 November 2016.

Editor's Note: The original interview was recorded on November 15, 2016, prior to the 18th EU-Ukraine Summit , not in December as originally reported.