Two Steps Forward or Two Steps Back: Ukraine’s Upcoming Local Elections and Impact on Democracy and Anti-Corruption Reforms

Speakers

• Olha Aivazovska, Coordinator of Political Programs and Chairman of the Board, OPORA
• Halyna Chyzhyk, Judicial Reform Expert, Anticorruption Action Centre - AntAC
• Denys Kovryzhenko, Senior Legal Adviser, Ukraine, International Foundation for Electoral Systems
• Anastasiya Kozlovtseva, Head of International Relations, Transparency International Ukraine
• Lisa Yasko, Member, Foreign Affairs Committee, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

Moderators

• Orest Deychakiwsky, Board Vice-Chair, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
• Jonathan Katz, Senior Fellow and Director, Democracy Initiatives, German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Bruno Lété, Senior Fellow, Security and Defense, German Marshall Fund of the United States

The Transatlantic Task Force on Ukraine (TTFU) invites you to a special October 19 briefing on Ukraine’s upcoming October 25 local elections, which will hold great significance for ongoing challenges to democratic, judicial, decentralization, and other key reforms. We will hear directly from Ukrainian experts on judicial reform and anticorruption efforts, including two issues which have made headlines in Ukraine recently with potentially dangerous hearings in the Constitutional Court creating confusion around the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC). We will also discuss the modalities of the local elections, including the impacts of the coronavirus, oligarchs, and Russia, as well as the outcome of the recent EU-Ukraine summit and how transatlantic partners can best support Ukraine’s at-risk reform and integration progress.

TTFU was established in October 2018 by the German Marshall Fund’s Frontlines of Democracy Initiative, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN) Democracy and Civil Society Task Force and Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR) with support from civil society organizations in Ukraine. The main focus of the task force is to provide a real-time platform for stronger U.S., European, and Ukrainian engagement and information sharing among policymakers, opinion-makers, and civil society organizations on political, economic, and security issues affecting Ukraine, its democratic transition, and engagement with Western partners. Please check out the reporting from our last event in April.

If you have any questions, please contact John Alexander at [email protected].