Europe expects Ukraine reforms: France
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union expects Ukraine to fight against corruption and implement economic reforms, France's European affairs minister said in Brussels on Tuesday ahead of a Ukraine-EU summit.
Europe wants "a return to a state of law, an end to corruption" in Ukraine, said Pierre Lellouche, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European foreign ministers to prepare for the summit in Kiev on December 4.
"Electoral promises must not be financed with money from the international community, from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and European taxpayers," he added, referring to Ukraine's presidential election in January.
Ukraine is one of the countries worst hit by the economic crisis and was granted a 16.4-billion-dollar IMF loan last year. But the money has been frozen by the IMF after Ukraine's parliament voted to increase social spending.
"There's real disappointment with the incapacity of the political class to carry out reforms, the rise of corruption, the fact that the country remains extremely dependent on international aid," Lellouche said.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in a separate development on Tuesday that it was delaying a decision on a planned 300-million-dollar loan to Ukraine because of its failure to implement reforms.
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