Pro-Western Ukraine Parliament holds first session

Ukraine’s Parliament has opened for the first time since last month’s election, which saw a spread of pro-Western parties brought in with an overwhelming majority.

Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov presided over the swearing of oaths by the elected deputies on Thursday. Deputies sang the national anthem, before holding a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in Kiev protests.

Five parties were united as a preliminary governing coalition last week, with the shared goal of integration with Europe and eventual NATO membership. Current Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will remain in his post as the head of the coalition and will be confirmed after weeks of debate.

Other large forces in parliament include President Petro Poroshenko's party, Samopomich, a new pro-European party based in western Ukraine, the Fatherland party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the Radical Party.

The October election overhauled a legislature once dominated by loyalists of former president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted from power in February following months of protests.