Ukraine in Arabic | Foreigners will take jobs in Ukrainian government
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Ukraine’s president has announced plans to change the nation's legislation to make it possible to appoint foreigners to top government positions. This has been dubbed “unprecedented,” and may indicate that the country is being governed “from outside.”
“My idea is to change the laws in order to give the right to engage foreigners in state service, including government,” President Petro Poroshenko said in his address to Parliament on Thursday. “Or to expand the list of people whom Ukraine’s president may provide with Ukrainian citizenship in a speedy procedure,” he added.
He stressed that those foreigners’ willingness to accept Ukrainian citizenship in order to take the posts will “confirm” the “strong commitment of our potential partners and candidates.”
Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk suggested the creation of a new position – deputy prime minister of European integration affairs. He proposed that a European leader be appointed to the post.
Meanwhile, Bloc of Petro Poroshenko leader Yuriy Lutsenko said the applicants intend to give up their citizenships of other countries in order to gain citizenship of Ukraine. Ukraine does not allow dual nationality.
Lutsenko also said that under the current legislation "receiving citizenship is quite a long process, taking up to two years."
"Today, we are planning to introduce legislative changes to reduce this period, so that all foreign experts can obtain Ukrainian citizenship quite fast," Lutsenko said.
He said that one of the candidates is a "U.S. citizen of Ukrainian origin."
"The other two candidates are the citizens of other countries who are not ethnic Ukrainians – from Georgia and Lithuania," Lutsenko said. Formal procedures have been launched to enable these experts to work in the Ukrainian government, Lutsenko said.
He said foreign experts who have a proven track record in effectively implementing reforms in their own countries have been invited to apply for positions in the Ukrainian government.