The dominant influence of populism in Ukraine's domestic politics will complicate the country's pursuit for European integration in 2019, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said on Friday.
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) The dominant influence of populism in Ukraine's domestic politics will complicate the country's pursuit for European integration in 2019, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said on Friday."I think it will be much harder to promote the laws aimed at the European integration in the Ukrainian parliament, as populism and empty promises will grow," the deputy prime minister told the Ukrainian radio station Novoye Vremya.
Klympush-Tsintsadze also criticized the political advertisements of the leader of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) political party Yulia Tymoshenko, who plans to run in the upcoming presidential election, to lower gas prices in the country.
"To half gas prices is fine for exactly one month, as right after that the Ukrainian cooperation with any international institutions will end ... Therefore, I think it will be harder, and there will be a lot of populism. We will only have to 'fight back' and explain that these promises do not lead anywhere, even if someone manages to fulfill them," the deputy prime minister said.
The presidential election in Ukraine will be held on March 31.
European integration is the key priority in Ukraine's foreign policy. In November, the Ukrainian parliament passed in a first reading a series of constitutional amendments that will establish joining the European Union and NATO as country's key strategy.
In December 2014, the Ukrainian parliament voted to drop the country's non-aligned status and work toward NATO membership. In June 2017, the parliament defined membership in the alliance as the country's strategic foreign policy goal. Ukraine should also ensure full compatibility of its armed forces with NATO countries by 2020.
