STRASBOURG, September 30 (RIA Novosti), Cristina Luna-Rodriguez – The Venice Commission will release a statement about Ukraine’s constitutional reforms, including those concerning the country's decentralization, after the October 26 Verkhovna Rada elections, a commission spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
"The draft which was sent to the authorities this summer will be adopted but published after the elections on October 26," the spokesman said.
According to the spokesperson, a session will be convened on October 10 or 11, during which the commission intends to exchange opinions with the Ukrainian authorities and study, before its adoption, the preliminary judgment of the bill on Ukraine's constitutional reforms.
Earlier, the chairman of the scientific procurement department in the Russian delegation to the commission Rashad Kurbanov explained that the Venice Convention is especially concerned about the project of Ukraine's constitutional reforms regarding decentralization is that it has not been discussed with the Ukrainian public.
This summer, newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Ukraine would not become a federation, though the country’s authorities were ready for decentralization. He then brought the corresponding constitutional amendments before the country's parliament for debate.
Poroshenko's amendments entitle local authorities to give a special status to Russian as well as other languages within the corresponding administrative and territorial units. These amendments will also be subject to observation by the Venice Commission.
The Venice Commission, a consultative body on constitutional law at the Council of Europe, analyzes laws and bills to be adopted in its member states. The conclusions the commission will draw will be included in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in accordance with the "European standards" of democracy.
In April, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation in the country's southeast, where independence supporters refused to accept the new government that was put in power following a coup in February.
According to UN estimates, the five-month conflict has killed over 3,500 people and injured over 8,000.
