Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn is convinced that the visit of President of the Republic of Slovenia Danilo Turk will boost successful development of bilateral Ukrainian-Slovenian relations.
Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, made this statement, meeting Mr Türk.
The Head of the Parliament said that the level of political dialogue "inspires optimism and confidence" as to the perspectives of good bilateral relations. V. Lytvyn focused on the lack of problematic or controversial issues between Ukraine and the Republic of Slovenia.
V. Lytvyn hopes that the present visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia will establish partnership between the supreme legislators. He declared that the Verkhovna Rada is ready to facilitate development of this partnership. Unfortunately, V. Lytvyn admitted that there were no exchange visits of the parliamentary delegations between the states, although the situation shall change in view of the European goals of Ukraine.
The President of Slovenia stated that the current level of bilateral and social relations between the states and citizens is quite high.
Discussing the parliamentary component of bilateral relations, Mr Türk stated that after early elections to the Slovenian Parliament in December 2011, he together with the new parliamentary board will make common cause to establish the interparliamentary relations between Ukraine and Slovenia. He invited the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to make an official visit to Slovenia.
The Parties also discussed European integration of Ukraine. Mr Türk stressed that his state "entirely supports Ukraine in this pursuit", and is ready to assist in this matter.
V. Lytvyn emphasised that Ukraine highly appreciates Slovenia´s support. According to the Chair, Ukraine "is experiencing changes and reforms and is on the threshold of the important decision: whether to remain semi-Europeans, to become real Europeans or to reject European perspectives." "Ukraine is preparing to sign the Agreement on Association with the EU, working upon the ‘roadmap´ on visa regime liberalization. Thus, we are making our conscious political decision. Definitely, some economic losses might occur, but our political choice is oriented towards the state perspectives," the Head of the Ukrainian Parliament declared.