Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Co-Chairpersons Irene Degutienė, Speaker of Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic, and Bogdan Borusewicz, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, People´s Deputies of Ukraine, parliament members of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland, representatives of the executive authorities, and scholars attended the session.

The participants of the meeting discussed the humanitarian aspect of the European integration processes: the experience of the past and the needs of the present; the factor of history in the European identity; cultural heritage: from the past to the present; historical dimension of relations: national minorities as a factor of European identity.  

Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declared that Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Polish nations had placed themselves on record of the European history in different millennia and epochs. "European integration started not from Maastricht Treaty of 1993 or the European Coal and Steel Community of 1953," he stated. "I suppose that today´s Europe and the European Union as its integral part is a single civilizational and value space that has been formed and strengthened owing to the synthesis of historical, political, socio-economic, cultural and spiritual experience of all European nations and small and large states."

According to V.Lytvyn, in different historical periods our people have gathered under one state roof or within one supranational geopolitical system, which facilitated mutual understanding, as well as common creation of the European history.  "We continue to create this history, but Poland and Lithuania do this within the European Union, whereas Ukraine in its policy of European integration and pursuit of a full-fledged EU membership," he stated. 

The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine considers the idea of European good-neighborly relations to be a fundamental value that has facilitated development of contacts between the independent and sovereign states for the past twenty years. Stating that good-neighborly relations have set an example for other countries in the region, V.Lytvyn laid emphasis on the development of the previously determined areas of collaboration.

Irene Degutienė, Speaker of Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic, stressed, "We should give hands to each other to find the things that unite, not divide." She stressed, "Some politicians already acknowledge that Ukrainian constitution was the first constitution in Europe, preceding all the other constitutions." She also called for preserving the Christian roots of history. Irene Degutienė stated, "Some politicians want the future to be accepted in the light of technocracy, so that Europe was seen as a functioning of the customs union and European industrial associations." She stressed, "Unfortunately, the issue of European integration is often restricted to the abstract statements connected with the institutes of democracy and human rights, as well as the symbols of European values, whereas the concept of European identity is not always clear and depends on political interpretations." The Speaker of Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic admitted that European identity is often used as a political tool that lets determine the limits of the EU, while Lithuania perceives European identity in a different way than the opponents of the EU expansion. "We are consistent in the view that development of security in the common European home will not finish until Ukraine becomes a full-fledged member of the EU," stressed Irene Degutienė. She also emphasized, "Ukraine is not a neighbour of Europe, but a neighbour in Europe. The EU should clearly determine the beginning and the limits of Europe, as well as the core values of the European identity. If the EU is willing to become a union of values, the economic interests can not be masked by the concept of European identity."

Bogdan Borusewicz, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, stated, "Members of the European Union have different attitudes to its expansion, as not only distribution of wealth is concerned." He stated that prosperous EU states "know where Europe begins it begins with them", while the question of possible expansion is debatable. B. Borusewicz believes that "the European Union should be open, and needs expanding."

According to B. Borusewicz, Poland and Lithuania believe that support of democratic market reforms in Ukraine refers to the sphere of European interests. "We are concerned about the possibility for Ukraine and our neighbour Belarus to access the EU, as it will strengthen security. It is not a mere idea. It is because of this reason that Germany supported Poland´s accession to the EU, since Germany did not want to remain on the outskirts of the EU. In our case, the interests of Ukraine European orientation, and the interests of Poland expansion of the EU, coincide." He also underscored that Ukraine´s primary aim is achievement of the association level, while the main future goal is a full-fledged membership in the European Union.

On behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Andrii Kliuev, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, greeted the participants of the trilateral assembly, and declared a close cooperation between the branches of authority in Ukraine. He stressed, "We have followed the way of reforms, and in the middle of last year President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych announced the program of reforms aimed at the economic and social development of Ukraine, which lists European integration of Ukraine among its priorities." Andrii Kliuev stated, "Yesterday the President of Ukraine held a council on the economic reforms, and it was decided to adopt numerous laws in April to boost deregulation in the country, and hold the reforms of agriculture, transport, and fuel and energy sector."

As the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, he supervises the negotiations on accession to the free trade zone and visa-free regime with the European Union member states. "The talks are quite active; however, a number of problematic issues should be settled in Brussels. First of all, it concerns the quotas on export and import of agricultural produce, services and commodities in the fuel and energy sector, and transport matters. I expect the negotiations to finish in the first half-year to enter final straight of signing the free trade zone and visa-free regime agreements," summed up Andrii Kliuev.

Discussing the issue of historical education in the light of modern integration processes, the participants of the meeting stressed, "Actualization of the European discourse of social conscience of Ukraine is possible owing to the recollection of the historical past." The attendants stated that the vector of the European integration of Ukraine demands revising the concept of teaching history as a school subject. The speakers also called for revising activity of the Polish-Ukrainian panel on history textbooks drafting in the light of said processes of European integration.

The speakers stressed that the history of relations between the members of the inter-parliamentary assembly is "not a history of states, but a history of societies that have always strived towards freedom and democracy."  

The participants of the session have also discussed the outlooks of the inter-parliamentary assembly. It was stated that "the current inter-parliamentary assembly can serve as a basis for the future inter-state association of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, although only two countries of this list are EU members." The assembly also has a humanitarian aspect of development, while the modern world can not advance without morality and spirituality.

The participants of the session also debated the cultural heritage of the inter-parliamentary assembly member states, and the issues of the national minorities. Thus, despite different historical-cultural development and ongoing socio-political processes, the participants of the Assembly face up against the modern cultural challenges, so the study of experience in settling the ethnical-cultural issues helps resolve the present-day problems. "A long-lasting neighborhood of Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian ethnoses is an example of fruitful cooperation of different nations within a single sociopolitical and cultural system," stated the reporters.   

The socio-cultural monuments that belong to the people of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania include the Lithuanian Statute the document that ensured existence of the multifaith and polyethnic state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; the prominent political and cultural figures - Stanisław Orzechowski (Ukrainian-born writer who defended the rights of Ruthenians to use their native language), Juliusz Słowacki, Polish poet of Ukrainian origin, composers Juliusz Zarębski and Karol Szymanowski. Prominent Ukrainian artists of Polish origin were also mentioned: architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi, composer Borys Liatoshynskyi, and others.   

Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Irene Degutienė, Speaker of Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic, and Bogdan Borusewicz, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, signed the Declaration further to the 4^th Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland.