(2 Feb 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv - 2 February 2023
1. Wide of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entering news conference
2. Mid of von der Leyen and Zelenskyy
3. SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission:
"You prepared your application for EU membership brilliantly. I know it by experience. You became a candidate country while fighting an invasion. You continue to make impressive progress to meet the seven steps of the Commission's opinion. I am comforted to see that your anti-corruption bodies are on alert and effective in detecting corruption cases."
4. Von der Leyen and Zelenskyy
5. SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission:
"Russia must be held accountable in courts for its odious crimes. Prosecutors from Ukraine and the European Union are already working together. We are collecting evidence, and as a first step, I'm pleased to announce that an international centre for the crime of aggression in Ukraine will be set up in The Hague. This centre will coordinate the collection of evidence. It will be embedded in the joint investigation team, which is supposed by our agency Eurojust."
6. Various of von der Leyen shaking hands with Zelenskyy, pair exiting
STORYLINE:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv ahead of what officials described as a summit on Friday.
Von der Leyen praised wartime Ukraine’s “brilliant application” for European Union membership, though Brussels officials note that Ukraine joining the 27-nation bloc is still a long way off.
At a joint briefing, von der Leyen, on her fourth visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion, said she was “comforted” by Ukraine’s anti-corruption drive.
Stamping out endemic corruption is a key condition for joining the EU.
Zelenskyy on Wednesday took aim at corrupt officials for the second time in the space of a week.
Several high-ranking officials were dismissed.
Von der Leyen also announced that an International Center for the Prosecution of the crime of aggression in Ukraine would be set up in Hague.
“The perpetrator must be held accountable,” she said, referring to Russia.
The center will coordinate the collection of evidence, which will be embedded in the joint investigation team supported by the agency Eurojust.
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