The EU expects Ukrainian authorities to provide social support to citizens in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, including the payment of pensions and guarantees of electoral rights. Richard Tibbels, the head of the department for relations with the countries of the Eastern Partnership of the EU Foreign Ministries stated this, at a meeting of the European Parliament delegation on association with Ukraine in Brussels on November 21, Deutsche Welle reports.
"We think what else Ukraine can do. Namely, it will strengthen support in social issues, such as the payment of pensions to citizens in territories not controlled by the government and the electoral rights of internally displaced persons," Tibbels said.
The European official recalled that Ukraine recently promised the EU to pass a law on the electoral rights of such individuals before the end of the year.
At the same time, Tibbels expressed full support for the work of the "Normandy Four" and the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. He added that Brussels also expects significant steps from Russia to advance the Minsk process, which Moscow could have implemented at the summit of the Normandy Four scheduled for December 9 in Paris.
The EU also looks forward to the completion of the Minsk process in Ukraine. Then the EU will be ready to play a leading role in the restoration of Donbas.
As we reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had met with the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and had spoken about peace in Donbas with him.
