Volodymyr Lytvyn: The Slovak Republic and Ukraine should be more deeply involved into the activity of the Visegrad Group, in particular on the Parliamentary Level

06 October 2010, 18:06

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Volodymyr Lytvyn: The Slovak Republic and Ukraine should be more deeply involved into the activity of the Visegrad Group, in particular on the Parliementary Level

On Wednesday, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, met Ivan Gašparovič, President of the Slovak Republic. 

V. Lytvyn has highly appreciated the state of bilateral dialogue on all the levels, and declared that the Slovak Republic "is our close neighbor, as we are connected by a great history, people and the present situation." The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine hopes that the visit of Ivan Gašparovič would strengthen the bilateral relations between the Parliaments, committees and the friendship groups. 

The Head of the Parliament also emphasized the importance of development of the bilateral relations in the sphere of humanities, namely, in the sectors of science and education.  "The world should live at the expense of education and science", he explained. V. Lytvyn emphasized the great potential of Ukraine and expressed hope that " development of the small and medium-sized business will increase demand for the high technologies." 

He also called for the further development of neighboring cooperation. 

The President of the Slovak Republic declared that despite the high level of interstate relations, there are extra opportunities for their improvement in economic, research and cultural spheres. I. Gašparovič also stated that he shared the opinion of V. Lytvyn as to the necessity of strengthening the inter-parliamentary liaison. 

I. Gašparovič supported European orientation of Ukraine and declared the willingness to assist our state, for "Ukraine will soon join the European Union." "We are eager to share our experience, for you to study our mistakes and continue your way flawlessly," he explained. "The main prospect of Ukraine in the political and economic sense is the participation in EU. New laws and reforms would facilitate accession to the associated membership in EU", Mr. President is convinced. 

"In its intentions to join the EU, Ukraine is not Euro-sceptic, but Euro-pragmatic", V. Lytvyn stated. According to him, our state needs "real reforms." "In particular, when the authorities have the credit of confidence for one or two years, they shall use it for the economic wellfare of the state. However, we shall fulfill our ‘homework´ to achieve this goal", the Head of the Ukrainian Parliament emphasised. He also positively evaluated the cooperation and harmony between the President, the Parliament and the Government, formation of the parliamentary majority under the new constitutional provisions. He explained that the majority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is an informal union of the deputy factions that "demonstrates the willingness to accept responsibility and work in coordination." On the other hand, V. Lytvyn is convinced that existence of a strong parliamentary opposition (150 deputies) is absolutely necessary for the efficient parliamentary work. 

Speaking on the issues of foreign policy, V. Lytvyn stated that both the Slovak Republic and Ukraine should be more deeply involved into the work of the Visegrad Group, in particular on the parliamentary level. 

I. Gašparovič agreed to the proposal: "Active participation and cooperation within the Group is essential, as it is possible to consider powerful cooperation, discuss agendas of the common events, and determine specific areas of cooperation." 

He also announced that several bilateral agreements had been signed that day, namely, on the alleviation of the visa regime.