Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to seek re-election

World
Europe

00:34

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, whose popularity has plunged over rampant corruption and sliding living standards, launched his uphill fight for re-election on Tuesday, promising to steer his country toward the West and join the EU.

Polls show Poroshenko trailing the opponent he defeated five years ago, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a veteran former prime minister who has pledged to clamp down on graft, raise wages and lower household energy prices.

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The 53-year-old took power in the heady days of 2014 after a popular uprising that overthrew pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych.

But Poroshenko's five years in power have been difficult. Russia responded to Yanukovych's fall by seizing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and backing separatists in the east in a conflict which has killed at least 10,000 people and which remains unresolved despite a 2015 ceasefire.

The public has blamed a failure to fight corruption for the continuing fall of living standards in one of Europe's poorest countries. The average monthly wage is around 380 U.S. dollars compared to 450 U.S. dollars in the year before Poroshenko took office.

“The feeling of deep responsibility before the country, before contemporaries, before past and future generations prompted me to decide to run again for the presidency,” Poroshenko told thousands of supporters on Tuesday.

While apologizing for mistakes, Poroshenko cast himself as the man to guard Ukraine against Russia and populism, and keep Ukraine on its Western course. Patriotic songs and videos, showing footage of soldiers at the front of the president meeting world leaders, preceded his speech.

“None of my steps, successful or not, contradicted the strategy of a complete break with the colonial past, of Ukraine, going its own way, of a civilization alliance with Europe,” he said. “And we have no right to stop halfway.”

Poroshenko also wants Ukraine to apply for EU membership in 2024. But while the West remains supportive of Ukraine, the country's prospects of joining the bloc any time soon are questionable.

Tymoshenko launched her campaign last week, and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who achieved fame as a comic actor, is also seen as a strong challenger.

(With inputs from Reuters)