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Opposition Bloc urges decentralization of power in Ukraine

"‘The coalition of war’ in the parliament votes for laws that more and more split the society," a deputy chairman of the Opposition bloc’s parliamentary faction said

KIEV, May 18. /TASS/. The Opposition Bloc demands the immediate decentralization of power and the respective amendments to the country’s constitution needed for achieving peace in Donbas, a deputy chairman of the bloc’s parliamentary faction said on Monday.

"People should decide themselves where and what amount of funds to allocate from the local budgets. It’s up to people to decide what language they should speak. People should decide themselves what monuments to build," Sergey Levochkin said.

The lawmaker stressed that "the country should remain united, integrated and strong." He also said the Kiev authorities are taking insufficient steps to implement the Minsk agreements.

"‘The coalition of war’ in the parliament votes for laws that more and more split the society," Levochkin said.

He thanked Ukraine’s partners Germany, France and the United States for their support in preserving the country’s territorial integrity and carrying out the necessary diplomatic negotiations and reforms aimed at bringing peace to Donbass.

The agreement to stop hostilities in the southeast was brokered after the 16-hour marathon talks between the leaders of the Normandy Four countries - Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.

The February 12 deal also envisages heavy weaponry withdrawal from the contact line, launching a dialogue on restoring social and economic ties between Kiev and Donbas, a constitutional reform in Ukraine aimed at decentralization and ensuring the special status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and other measures.