Online-conference with Great Britain Ambassador to Ukraine

Today Robert Brinkley, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, took part inForUm's online-conference.

Here are his several interesting standpoints concerning Ukraine:

Stesh

R.B.

Corruption does the biggest harm to Ukraine’s reputation in the world. This is reflected in regular reports by Transparency International, though Ukraine’s rating has improved in their latest list.

Widespread corruption is the main reason why Ukraine attracts less foreign investment than other neighbouring countries. So resolute action to fight corruption is an important national interest.

It will harm some Ukrainians, who abuse their position for their personal gain, but with time the Ukrainian people as a whole will gain.

Andriy

R.B.

The main trends that we observe in the migration sphere are a steady increase in numbers of visa applications and a reduction to very small numbers of Ukrainians seeking asylum in Britain.

Unfortunately, there are still some Ukrainians who take up work in Britain without work permits or overstay their visas. Illegal workers should be aware that they have no protection from exploitation by unscrupulous employers. By the way, 85% of Ukrainianswho apply for a visa, receive it.

R.B.

The main difference between Ukrainian and British politics is that Ukraine is only 14 years old. The system of political parties in Ukraine is still young and mostly based on personalities, rather than political programmes. But my impression is that the political situation is developing with every election.

Another difference between the countries is that in Ukraine, holders of public office cannot be members of parliament. In Britain the largest party in Parliament forms the government and ministers remain members of Parliament.