Acting Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty voiced this rather nonstandard view, given today’s situation, during a press conference on July 6. According to the minister, Ukrainian parliamentarians must abide by the culture and clauses of the Verkhovna Rada’s standing orders. He added that the only European country that has a law on the opposition is Portugal. The law addresses opposition activities in general, both within and outside parliament. Therefore, if the bill on the opposition is passed in Ukraine, which will regulate its activity in parliament, this will be a European precedent.
Holovaty made a number of interesting statements on other issues. He claimed that the 2004 political reform wreaked havoc in Ukraine: “The goal of everything that was proposed by Medvedchuk, Symonenko, and Moroz was to plunge Ukraine into chaos. We have chaos but no reform took place.”
He went on to comment on Ukraine’s prospects in Europe. He predicted that Ukraine can become a member of the EU in 10 years, at best. The acting minister believes that the reason for the delay is the low level of civic and political culture in Ukraine. Holovaty offered to visit any apartment building entrance in Kyiv to demonstrate that tenants are not bothered about keeping their entrance, stairs, and landings clean. He also reminded journalists of the three Copenhagen criteria that a candidate EU member country must satisfy: the existence of stable democratic institutions, rule of law, and protection of general human and ethnic minority human rights.
