Kuleba names Ukraine's and Central European Union's priorities
Photo: mfa.gov.ua
On May 13, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba took part in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Central European Five at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korčok.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
For the first time, Ukraine joined the work of the regional format of cooperation between Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
"Ukraine and Central Europe are united by a common history and identity. We have strong political and economic ties. That's why I didn't hesitate when I received an offer to take part in this meeting," Dmytro Kuleba said.
The Head of Ukrainian diplomacy proposed three priority areas of cooperation between Ukraine and five Central European countries: vaccination of the population, safe travel for citizens, and business support in a pandemic.
Photo: mfa.gov.ua
He paid special attention to improving the mobility of citizens.
"COVID-19 has paralyzed the movement of citizens in Europe and the world at large. We must join forces to restore safe international travel. This won't only improve mobility, but also strengthen our economies," Dmytro Kuleba stressed.
Ministers discussed the possibility of concluding agreements on recognizing vaccination certificates.
The parties paid special attention to the security situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and the concentration of the armed forces of the Russian Federation near the Ukrainian borders.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy stressed that the withdrawal of troops announced by the Russian party is only partial, and only in the direction of the temporarily occupied Crimea. According to him, a significant number of units and equipment of the Russian army remain near the border with Ukraine.
Photo: mfa.gov.ua
"Ukraine's strong international support has forced Russia to stop brandishing weapons. At the same time, the threat of new military provocations remains. We must take care of additional measures to deter Russia from further aggressive actions," Dmytro Kuleba stressed.
In this context, the foreign ministers discussed steps to strengthen security in Eastern and Central Europe.
Dmytro Kuleba spoke separately about the national strategy of de-occupation of Crimea and launching the Crimean Platform. He invited Central European partners to take part in its inaugural summit in Kyiv on August 23.
Earlier it was reported that the Foreign Minister of Ukraine would attend the meeting of the Central European Five for the first time.
