KIEV, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Amnesty Law is the price that Kiev must pay to ensure peace in Ukraine's southeast, whether the government likes it or not, the Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs said Saturday during a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
"The Amnesty Law is crucial in uniting the country and it is the price that must be paid for peace, even if you don't like it. It is the price for peace and freedom that must be paid," said Elmar Brok, who is also a German Member of the European Parliament.
Brok and Poroshenko reportedly discussed the implementation of the president's peace plan for the turbulent eastern regions.
"I am grateful to the president for his intention to table an anti-corruption reform and adopt laws that would help decentralize power and issue pardons as part of the peace settlement [process]. These are the steps that will contribute to the realization of the peace plan in the country's east," Elmar Brok stressed.
Poroshenko said earlier he was going to submit a draft amnesty law to the Ukrainian parliament on September 16 that would ensure that those, who lay down arms and who had not committed grave crimes, were not prosecuted.
The amnesty initiative was part of the president's promises to the nation during his inauguration on June 7.
