One of Ukraine’s parliamentary factions urges isolation of Donbass

Leader of Ukrainian Samopomich Party parliamentary group Oleh Berezyuk has had a meeting with PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteurs Jordi Xuclà and Axel Fischer, during which he said that the decentralization-related constitutional amendments are not acceptable due to the “special status of Donbass.”

“A public agreement made through fraud will not be supported by the people as the only source of power,” he said.

“Temporary isolation of the occupied territories is necessary for the economic, social and political stability of the country. Only a strong country can secure liberation and then return of Donbass,” the party’s press office quotes Berezyuk as saying.

The politician is sure that the country needs a new prime minister and a new Cabinet, as the incumbent government does not meet the standards of public government. He pointed at the 2016 budget as a bright evidence of that.

EADaily reported earlier that on January 28, the Supreme Rada passed amendments to the Regulations of the Parliament without waiting for the resolution of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The amendments prolonged the procedure of passing the decentralization-related amendments to the constitution.  “The amendments to the regulations gives the deputies additional 5-6 months for discussions,” Supreme Rada Speaker Volodymyr Groysman said.  Meantime, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin said that it is impossible to give Donbass a special status on a permanent basis through constitutional amendments.