We may lose state without reforms completion, but I won't allow this - Poroshenko
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said that without the completion of reforms Ukraine risks losing its statehood.
"There is an even worse prospect: without the completion of reforms, we have the risk of losing our statehood, and we will simply lose the state," the president said, speaking with an annual address to the parliament on Thursday.
Poroshenko acknowledged that this was a pessimistic scenario, which he would not allow to materialize.
One of the key challenges facing Ukraine is the approaching election campaign, as there is little time for reforms left before the 2019 elections.
"We have only one year to actively work on reforms," he said.
Another challenge facing Ukraine is "populism exploited by some political parties," he said.
"Ukraine is threatened by anarchy and hetmanism, as some fringe groups try to challenge the state's monopoly on using force," Poroshenko said.
The authorities have managed to make this problem less urgent but have not fully eliminated it, especially in conditions when an aggressor country is seeking to take advantage of this, he said.
