On Monday,
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Dimitrios P. Droutsas, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Greece.
At the beginning of the meeting, Volodymyr Lytvyn stated that Ukraine is interested in intense political dialogue with Greece. "We expect that your visit to Ukraine will become a necessary impulse", he explained.
V. Lytvyn declared that our states had great potential for boosting inter-parliamentary dialogue between the committees, friendship groups and political factions.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada invited the Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of Greece to stay in Ukraine with an official visit.
V. Lytvyn believes that development of bilateral cooperation is vitally important for Ukraine. He hopes that work of the Joint Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Industrial, Technical and Scientific Cooperation between Ukraine and Greece will become systemic.
He also addressed the Minister with a request to facilitate enactment of the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Military-Technical Cooperation and the inter-departmental agreement in the sphere of state management and reform administration.
V. Lytvyn attaches
great importance to the further development of bilateral relations in the
cultural and social spheres. Namely, he is convinced that we shall exert
efforts to hold Days of Greece in Ukraine and Ukrainian Days in Greece.
He emphasized importance of arranging favourable conditions for the national minorities, and declared that the Parties shall finalize and sign the Agreement on Social Provision.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs hopes that his visit will launch other visits on the supreme level. Namely, D. Droutsas informed on the state visit of Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine, to the Greek Republic scheduled for October, 2011.
Minister of Foreign Affairs invited Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada to stay with a working visit in the Greek Republic.
D. Droutsas laid emphasis on the great potential for the development of further bilateral cooperation taking into consideration common interests and harmony in relations. According to the Minister, Ukraine and Greece "are united by common past and culture."
D. Droutsas announced that his state supports European integration of Ukraine and appreciates state reforms. He greeted Ukraine with Presidency in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. He also greeted Ukraine with forthcoming Presidency in OSCE in 2013, and expressed readiness to share experience regarding presidency in this international institution.
Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Greece would facilitate simplification of the visa procedures for the Ukrainian citizens. He emphasized that our aim in this sphere is the visa free regime. "We belong to those European Union states, which expect cancellation of visa regime", he stated.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed his gratitude to the Minister for the "meaningful position", having stated that Ukraine "will complete the launched reforms."