The parliaments’ heads had also meaningful negotiations over the energy project “Via Carpatia”, having agreed that both the states should undertake simultaneous actions over the project and allocate the funds needed.
A.Parubii reminded that there have been some budget amendments proposed to allot finance for the Lviv-Vinnytsia-Odesa run to be connected to the base branch Via Carpatia. “We have agreed on putting some big designs into action by Ukraine and Poland to demonstrate closer cooperative ties. The plans lie in a far larger involvement of the EU financial resources in the regional development – it is both in Ukraine’s and the whole Carpathian region’s interests,’ said the Chairperson of the Parliament.
Marek Kuchcinski, the Marshal of the Polish Sejm underlined in his turn the great importance of a wide cooperation between the countries. “We do collaborate within the whole Europe. We ought to urge the Parliaments to place the work on a wider footing, not limiting to summits”. He proposed some new lines to cooperate along, crossing the borders in particular. “Yet the visa free travel has been in progress for some days, the borders do visibly lack enough check points”. It was proposed for both the presidents to drive round the borders and ‘chalk up’ the problems.
We ought to do the utmost of our power to make the Carpathian region to be one of the most developed and prosperous in the world”.
The above idea was a consistent thread running through all the deliberations at the discussion panel “The Carpathian Macroregional Strategy: Can Europe Get a Real Work Uplift in Its Very Midplace?” of the 2nd Regional Development Forum in Truskavets, Lviv oblast.
“Regional cooperation is quite important instrument of the European policies. I do believe, the European Union has gained a lot through the use of this tool of interaction between certain states,” noted A.Parubii, the Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliament. In the talks with Marek Kuchcinski, the Marshal of the Polish Sejm, the politicians have actively ventilated possible cooperation within the framework of Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Baltic-Black Sea Union – from Georgia through Lithuania.
“These formats, each in its own way, appear to be of interest and importance by having focused on different aspects of collaboration – either infrastructural, security or energy one,’ underscored the Chairperson.
Among the new spots of interstate interest under development Ukraine is taking part in, a Europe’s unique one is the Carpathian region which is seated in its very hub, stretching for over 1,000 miles from Bratislava through Serbia and Romania. It covers eight countries someway involved in the region in question.
As the Carpathian area in Ukraine is recognized to be underdeveloped - “We must do our best to make these lands prosperous and highly developed. And there is a potential to do so,” was A.Parubii’s commentary.
Attendance of Poland, Hungary and Romania at the meeting was highly appreciated as “these countries are our dependable partners in the region”.
Nota Bene. The
G8 of the Carpathian region are Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania,
Serbia, Austria, and Czechia.