KIEV, January 16 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian parliament passed the country’s 2014 budget Thursday despite attempts to disrupt the process by opposition deputies.
The budget law was supported by 249 deputies, comfortably over the 226 required. It was passed without discussion in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, after deputy speaker Igor Kaletnik said that obstructive tactics by opposition deputies had rendered discussion impossible. Not for the first time, members of the opposition had occupied the rostrum and presidium.
The government approved the budget in December, but plans to put the measure before parliament were delayed by opposition deputies until January.
Opposition protesters are currently occupying a central part of the capital Kiev as part of ongoing demonstrations against the government sparked by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back off from signing a long-planned integration deal with the European Union late last year.
