European Union

President Zelenskyy welcomed the European Commission's approval of the draft negotiation framework for Ukraine's accession to the EU and called on EU member states to respond quickly.

The European Commission plans to propose confiscating 15-20 billion euros in profits from russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe by 2027 to support Ukraine, but details of how the funds will be used are still being discussed.

In 2022, Ukraine signed about 180 contracts for the purchase of ammunition, which is almost twice as many as the 90 contracts signed in 2023, for a total of more than 640 contracts for the purchase of weapons and ammunition during 2022-2023, of which about 300 were completed as of March 6, 2024.

President Zelenskyy signs a law amending the Tax Code to digitalize certain tax services, allowing taxpayers to interact with the State Tax Service via video conference and improving online communications.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry thanked the EU for approving an additional 5 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine.

The leaders of France, Germany, and Poland will meet in Berlin on March 15 to discuss providing more support to Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch populist Freedom Party (PVV), which received the most votes in the 2023 elections, withdrew his candidacy for prime minister due to the lack of support from other parties necessary to form a coalition government.

The Moldovan government says that Russia is violating the law by printing ballots in the Transnistrian region ahead of its presidential "elections.

The First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine met with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova to discuss European integration, bilateral relations, and Ukraine's expectations regarding the participation of the President of Moldova in the Global Peace Summit.

Ukraine has a clear procedure on its way to EU membership and is systematically following it, and President Zelenskyy hopes to start negotiations in the first half of this year after the European Commission approves the framework for negotiations.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution proposing to consider Armenia's membership in the European Union if it continues to implement sustainable reforms aimed at strengthening democracy.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister thanked the EU for agreeing to increase the European Peace Fund by €5 billion in 2024 to provide military assistance to protect Ukraine from Russian invasion, calling it a powerful demonstration of European unity and resolve.

The European Parliament has approved the extension of the suspension of import duties and quotas on exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU for another year until June 5, 2025, and extended the suspension of all duties on imports from Moldova until July 24, 2025.

Negotiations between the Polish and Ukrainian governments will take several weeks to resolve the issue of Polish farmers blocking the border with Ukraine to protect certain agricultural sectors.

EU ambassadors agree to increase the European Peace Fund by €5 billion in 2024 to provide military assistance to Ukraine for its defense.

The EU has adopted the world's first comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, including restrictions on real-time biometric surveillance in public places and requirements for transparency and compliance with EU laws for high-risk artificial intelligence systems.

Estonia has proposed a plan to finance Ukraine for 120 billion euros annually, using funds raised through Eurobonds or national budgets.

In Odesa, law enforcement officers detained a group of four criminals, including an organizer and a co-organizer, who were selling cannabis, amphetamine, PVP and crack throughout Ukraine, seizing over 4 kg of various drugs and psychotropics.

The EU insists on strengthening measures to return Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia or resettled in Belarus.

Moldova sees Russia's attempts to destabilize the country by using political puppets, oligarchs and financing protests ahead of the presidential elections in Russia.

Polish farmers are planning to block traffic at the Swieczko border crossing with Germany from Sunday to Wednesday, protesting the government's inaction to meet their demands.

In the first two months of 2024, the volume of trade through the Suez Canal decreased by 50% and through the Panama Canal by 32%, disrupting supply chains and distorting key macroeconomic indicators, according to the IMF.

Polish farmers are going to temporarily unblock truck traffic to the border with Ukraine at the Dorohusk checkpoint, allowing Ukrainian drivers to return home, but the protest will continue.

Poland has joined the Czech initiative to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine from non-EU countries, but the Polish Foreign Minister refused to disclose the amount of money allocated for this purpose.

Viktor Pavlushchyk, the newly elected head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, held his first meeting with G7 ambassadors and the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, where he presented his vision for the NAPC's further development, including team cohesion, improving the declaration process and preventing corruption risks.

The EU leaders will demand new sanctions against Belarus, North Korea and Iran for helping Russia wage war against Ukraine, further restrictions on Russia's access to military components, and condemn Israel's decision to allow the construction of new settlements in the West Bank.

The European Union has removed from the sanctions list arkady volozh, the founder of yandex, sergey mndoyants, one of the representatives of the company that owns MTS, and josef gambalek, the head of the European branch of the pro-putin biker club.

The government is preparing an update of the regional development strategy to ensure effective support for the territories, increase the capacity of communities, and continue the decentralization reform.

European companies continue to supply equipment for the Arctic LNG 2 project, one of the largest shareholders of which is billionaire Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Vladimir Putin.

The Deputy Head of the NACP discussed with Czech officials cooperation in the fight against corruption, in particular, asset identification, countering disinformation, Ukrainian refugees and prevention of war-related corruption.