European Commission, Report on implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (democracy, human rights, governance; justice, freedom, security; mobility; other topics), Association Implementation Report on Ukraine [SWD(2018) 462 final], 7 November 2018 "An increased amount of hate speech and violence targeting minority groups including LGBTI and Roma has been documented by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The majority of these were reportedly perpetrated by extreme right-wing groups. […] It shows that 55% of planned activities for 2017 are on track; 31% implemented with some delay; and 14% either not implemented or significantly delayed. A baseline measurement of Ukraine's public administration launched by the EU-OECD 'SIGMA' programme in November 2017 was finalised and published in June 2018. […] In May 2018, the Council of the EU added five persons involved in the organization of the elections to the list of those subject to restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine 12 . In May 2018, the Kerch Strait bridge was inaugurated by President Putin. […] Ukraine's legislation aimed at approximating EU customs legislation, and in particular draft laws on authorised economic operator, common transit procedure, enforcement of intellectual property rights and customs relief for travellers with EU, regulations still need to be adopted by the Parliament. […] These measures specifically address the regulatory 11 framework, which is still tarnished by a number of problematic or outdated legal acts. With regard to the reform of SOEs, profits of the top-100 State owned enterprises have increased by 38% in 2017". OHCHR, Ukraine: Act now to stop systematic persecution of Roma minority in "alarming" attacks, say UN experts, 17 July 2018 "Ukraine must take immediate action to stop what amounts to a “systematic persecution” of the country’s Roma minority, who have been targeted in a series of violent attacks, says a group of UN human rights experts. “We unequivocally condemn these heinous acts of intimidation and violence against members of the Roma minority in Ukraine. We are also seriously concerned at the growing hatred and racially-motivated violence against this community – and in particular against its most vulnerable members, women and children,” the UN experts said. The attacks began in April 2018, and were allegedly perpetrated by members of extreme right-wing groups. The targets included women and children who were attacked in different regions of the country, including the capital Kyiv, as well as in Kharkiv, Ternopil and Lviv. Roma settlements were set on fire and residents intimidated, assaulted, and forced to leave their homes. It’s reported that the perpetrators were members of extreme right-wing groups, such as the so-called “Sich-C14” and the “National Brigades”. One person was stabbed to death and four others wounded in a separate attack on a settlement in Lviv. In the village of Velyka Berezovytsia in Ternopil, shots were fired at Roma residents who were also intimidated and assaulted. The majority of those present at the time were children. Those targeted also included a lawyer who was working on a case which involved violence against Roma residents. A local prosecutor, along with three masked men, broke into his office, threatened and physically assaulted him to try to get him to stop working on the case. “These attacks demonstrate a disturbing pattern of systematic persecution of Roma in Ukraine, compounded by rising hate speech and stigmatization, which appears to be nurtured by the current political and economic situation in the country,” the UN experts said. “We deplore the absence of effective measures to protect members of the Roma minority against such actions by the Ukrainian authorities, and in particular by the national and local police. We are also concerned to hear allegations of a prevailing climate of impunity and lack of accountability with no prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of such criminal acts,” the experts stressed. 17