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Ukraine's constitutional amendments envisage no special status for Donbas: president

Xinhua, July 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Wednesday that amendments to the country's Constitution, which include key decentralization clauses, do not envisage granting special status for the restive areas in eastern regions, known locally as Donbas.

"The draft amendments to the Constitution do not provide for any special status for Donbas," Poroshenko said, while presenting a bill on constitutional amendments concerning decentralization.

He said Kiev's decentralization plan envisages that the specific order of self rule in certain regions will not be enshrined in the Constitution, but will be determined by a separate law.

Decentralization, which is designed to grant more powers to regions, also will not touch such spheres as defense, foreign policy and national security, Poroshenko said, adding that he will submit the bill on Constitutional amendments to the parliament at the end of the day.

Decentralization reform, which envisages granting special status for certain areas in eastern Ukraine, has been one of the key demands voiced by independence-seeking insurgents in the country's eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Endite