On Wednesday 16 January, The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk, held a meeting with The Minister for Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Finland, Illka Kanervi, who was making an Official Visit to Ukraine.
At the start of the meeting, The Minister greatly praised the steps taken by Ukraine along the road of Democratic transformations, and in particular the smooth running of the last election campaign. According to I. Kanevri, Ukrainian Democracy is 'one of the more outstanding ones' within the former USSR.
During the meeting, the Parties, inter alia, touched on the role and place of Opposition in Democratic countries. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stressed that Ukraine needs 'Both a strong Opposition and a strong Government'. In this context, he stressed the necessity of defining the status of the Opposition at a legislative level. ‘Opposition´, said A.Yatseniuk, ‘is a very important force, and it must be influential in its concern, together with that of the Government, with the issues of development of the country.
The Parties also discussed a wide range of International Policy matters, and among them the OSCE Observation Missions and multilateral cooperation, including cooperation within International organisations. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine advised that Ukraine is open to discuss any matters through a constructive and transparent dialogue at an International level.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and The Minister for Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Finland discussed the problem of 'frozen conflicts' in Kosovo, Transnistria etc. As regards Transnistria, A.Yatseniuk expressed his thoughts that the format for the settling of this conflict, put forth by The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, is optimal, and the dialogue should be renewed taking into account the positions of all Parties.
A.Yatseniuk and I. Kanervi discussed several aspects of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic prospects.
During the meeting, A.Yatseniuk expressed his belief in the necessity of strengthening relations with the Russian Federation
The Parties also discussed the Parliamentary aspect of Bilateral cooperation, emphasizing the need to set up a Special Group in the Ukrainian Parliament for Inter-parliamentary contacts with The Republic of Finland.