“It is very important that Lithuania emanates crucial initiatives to support Ukraine, and the plan of European aid is among them,” said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy at a meeting with Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Ukrainian Chairman stressed at the Thursday meeting with the Seimas’s Head that Ukraine was honoured to have the official visit of one of the top politicians of Lithuania, the country which had been one of the biggest and most reliable allies to Ukraine within the recent years.
We are quite close to Lithuania historically, with centuries of hand in hand to count – it thus seems to be very significant it is exactly Lithuania that sets the lead in helping Ukraine, including elaboration of the so-called and much talked-about “The Marshall Plan for Ukraine” attracting more and more supporters throughout both the European Union and the United States.
A.Parubiy thanked to the Seimas’s Head for the support to Ukraine which had been rendered by Lithuania to gain the visa free regime and the Association agreement, as well as for the medical treatment and rehabilitation administered to our ATO men.
The meeting parties talked over the regional cooperation, the allies issue, the Ukraine’s east and the Crimean problems, and elaborated the action plan to jointly undertake very soon.
Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, noticed in turn that “it is high time to frame a new history, and it is very important for the both countries”. He thanked for a kind word addressed to Lithuania and underscored that the both countries had a common goal – a new future on a firm footing.
He also thanked to Hanna Hopko, the Head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and other core committees for their active work over the plan, and informed the audience that the Lithuanian Parliament had already approved it. The plan does provide for not only the aid, but also for a range of technical requirements and reforms to be accomplished.
The Seimas’s Head put a particular stress that the parliamentary delegation of Lithuania was happy to greet Ukraine with entering the Association agreement into force on September 1, 2017.
“Whatever we undertake, any single move is steered into strengthening and further development of a new booming Ukraine,” said V. Pranckietis. The Lithuanian delegation is then to move to the Kherson oblast to inspect the demarcation line area bordering the Crimea in order to confirm it first hand, that the civilized world considers the occupation inadmissible.
The Ukrainian Parliament’s Chairman thanked to V. Pranckietis for his firm stance as to the support of Ukraine.
The meeting was also attended by Hanna Hopko, the Head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and other parliamentary officials representing a series of the core committees and departments.