23 November 2015, 17:41
A delegation of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia is visiting Ukraine on November 22-24 on an invitation from the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The delegation includes members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Latvian Parliament. The delegation is led by the Committee chairman Ojars Kalnins. On November 23 the delegation met with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada.
The Ukrainian delegation included Committee chairperson Hanna Hopko, Committee deputy chairperson Borys Tarasiuk, chairperson of the subcommittee for Euro-Atlantic cooperation and European integration of the Committee Svitlana Zalischuk, member of the Verkhovna Rada group for inter-parliamentary ties with Latvia Serhii Vysotskyi.
Participating in the meeting from the side of the Latvian Parliament were Ojars Kalnins, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rihards Kols, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sergejs Potapkins, the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Arturs Jefimovs, an adviser of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Participating in the meeting was also Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to Ukraine Argita Daudze.
The Ukrainian delegation briefed members of the Latvian parliament about latest political developments in Ukraine in the context of resistance to the Russian aggression, about the situation with and prospects for realization of vital domestic reforms, about the security situation in the east of Ukraine and about prospects for implementation of the Minsk agreements in the context of the latest escalation of the situation in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In this context the Ukrainian delegation highlighted the necessity to continue personal and sector sanctions imposed against Russia following the annexation of the Crimea at the beginning of the conflict on Donbas. The Ukrainian delegation expressed special gratitude to Latvia for provision of persistent and firm support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. The Ukrainian delegation also thanked for the humanitarian aid granted by the Government and citizens of Latvia, first and foremost, in medical treatment of Ukrainian soldiers and rehabilitation of children from families of Ukrainian military and internally displaced persons.
Members of the Latvian delegation highlighted their intention to extend the cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian issues. They pointed to the importance of joint work at the level of respective parliamentary committees. They highly estimated an initiative suggested in March 2015 by the Parliaments of the Baltic States and the Northern Europe on developing parliamentary cooperation with Ukraine. The continuation of the initiative will be a visit Saeima Speaker Inara Murniece early in 2016.
The delegations share a position regarding the urgent need to consolidate efforts to rebuff the aggressive propaganda of the Russian Federation carried out against Ukraine and the European Union. They agreed that one of measures in this context will be development of a pan-European channel in the Russian language to resist the propaganda campaign from the side of Russia.