Volodymyr Lytvyn: Time of Talks and Declarations has passed; Time is Ripe for Decisions and Actions
On Monday, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Jerzy Wenderlich, Deputy Marshal of Sejm of the Republic of Poland, within preparation for the Fifth Sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland to be held in Kyiv on February 15, 2011.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed his hopes that "fruitful work of the Assembly and cooperation between the committees and parliamentary groups of friendship will ensure realization of agreements between the states." "We need practical work and feasible results," the Head of the Parliament stressed.
V.Lytvyn highly appreciated the agenda of the Assembly. He informed about the sitting of the trilateral Assembly Ukraine-Lithuania-Poland to be held in Kyiv on March 21-22, 2011. The sitting will be dedicated to the humanitarian cooperation, which is "an important factor of European identity."
The Head of the Parliament declared that Ukraine was interested in Poland´s presidency over the European Union, as "it may promote the interests of our state." According to V.Lytvyn, these interests concern formation of a free-trade zone, implementation of Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, visa-free regime, and European integration. "The common past and future of Ukraine and Poland should encourage Europe to confront the challenges and demonstrate unity," he emphasized.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deems necessary to detect the problems and the goals of a free-trade zone formation. It is also necessary to boost cooperation within the Eastern Partnership. He considers realization of the Eastern Partnership to be "a surplus value to the direct contacts with the EU."
According to V.Lytvyn, acceleration of work depends on both economic and political factors. Among the economic issues, he singled out inadequate financial support of the Eastern Partnership; among the political ones the lack of efforts for the initiation of EURONEST. The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine informed that Ukraine suggested various ways of realizing the parliamentary constituent of the European partnership to European Parliament President J.Buzek.
Jerzy Wenderlich, Deputy Marshal of Sejm of the Republic of Poland, agreed to the statement that "time of talks and declarations has passed; time is ripe for decisions and actions." He stressed that Poland´s presidency over the EU would become a chance both for Poland and Ukraine. J. Wenderlich stated that the Polish party "will focus on the Eastern Partnership as the cornerstone of cooperation between Ukraine and Poland." Poland is concerned about expansion of the European Union and Ukraine´s interests, so "it will lay emphasis on Ukraine´s European identity."
Commenting upon the agenda of the Fifth Sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Ukraine and the Republic of Poland, Sejm Deputy Marshal stated that apart from the European integration issues, the participants will discuss preparation for EURO 2012 and local self-government issues. He expects the Assembly to yield significant results.