The Special Advisor of the Secretary General for Ukraine Christos Giakoumopoulos welcomes the election of the members of the High Council of Justice, at the XII meeting of the Congress of Judges of Ukraine on 25-26 September 2014 in Kyiv. The Council of Europe considers this election as a very important step towards an effective functioning of the judiciary in Ukraine, in line with President Poroshenko’s strategy of reforms, where this process was identified as a clear priority. The Council of Europe will continue to cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities to facilitate a speedy implementation of these reforms in accordance with CoE standards.