Ruslan Stefanchuk,

Ruslan Stefanchuk, "Strengthening the parliamentary dimension of the Crimea Platform will be an important area of work this year"

Information Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat
Published on 08 February 2022, at 18:00

The visit of the Foreign Ministers is a strong signal of support for Ukraine from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria. This was stated by Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk during the meeting with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic - Jan Lipavsky, the Republic of Austria - Alexander Schallenberg, and the Slovak Republic - Ivan Korczok.

"I am very pleased that such a signal is coming from three extremely powerful European countries. I would like to assure you of our readiness for an effective dialogue and deepening of the parliamentary dimension of cooperation between our countries," he said.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada drew the attention of the Ministers to the fact that Russia is trying to destabilize the domestic political situation in Ukraine. He expressed hope for further continued diplomatic support for Ukraine by the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria and increased political and diplomatic pressure on Russia.

"The level of sanctions should be the maximum in order to deter Russia from its ill-considered steps," said Ruslan Stefanchuk.
The participants of the meeting also discussed the parliamentary dimension of the Crimea Platform. The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine spoke about the intention to ensure better awareness of parliamentarians of foreign countries about the real situation in Crimea. According to him, Ukraine's strategic goal is to create an International Parliamentary Assembly of the Crimea Platform.
Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed the need to intensify cooperation at the level of "friendship groups" of the legislatures of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria, which is an effective mechanism for developing cooperation between the Parliaments.
Another parliamentary project in which the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada drew attention to was the recognition by the Parliaments of the world of the Holodomor in Ukraine as a fact of genocide of the Ukrainian people.
Ruslan Stefanchuk noted that the Parliament has done a lot to meet the Copenhagen criteria. He noted that the evaluation of this work by parliaments and governments of other countries, as well as the signing of relevant joint declarations on Ukraine's European perspective would be extremely valuable for Ukraine.
"A very important direction for Ukraine, enshrined in the Constitution, is the path to the EU and NATO. I would like to express my hope that the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria will support Ukraine's movement in this direction. Ukraine's main goal is to be a member of NATO, not outside the Alliance. We look forward to inviting Ukraine to the next NATO Summit in Madrid and to hold a full-fledged meeting of the NATO-Ukraine High-Level Commission. I expect that the new NATO Strategic Concept, which will be approved in Madrid, will confirm the Allies' commitment to NATO's "open door" policy," he said.