ANKARA
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed not to allow the federalization of Ukraine as the conflict in the eastern part of the country with pro-Russian separatists continues.
Poroshenko made the remarks Tuesday in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev during the National Council of Reforms where the implementation of decentralization reform was discussed.
He said that nobody should think about creating Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Bessarabia and other republics. “We will not allow that,” he said, according to his official website.
“There will be an immediate response envisaged by the constitution and endorsed by representatives of local government, regional councils, Venice Commission and experienced experts,” he added.
Poroshenko insisted that “decentralization is the future,” but added that issues of security, defense, civil order, foreign relations, and key issues that maintain integrity and vertical of power would be an exclusive domain of the state government.
He also said that the Ukrainian model of decentralization was based on the Polish one, which had proved its efficiency.
On April 2014, the Donetsk People’s Republic and later the Luhansk People’s Republic were self-declared in Eastern Ukraine, a move strongly opposed by Kiev which initiated a broad military operation against the pro-Russian separatists.
At least 6,417 people have been killed since April 2014 in fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian army in eastern Ukraine, the UN say. The clashes continue despite a cease-fire agreement singed between parties in February 2015.
Ukraine and the Western countries accuse Moscow of supporting and arming the pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine, something that Moscow denies.
