04 July 2012, 10:49
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine V.M.Lytvyn met with Karl Lamers, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
V.Lytvyn expressed his hopes that the current visit will promote the continuation of fruitful cooperation between the Ukrainian Parliament and the NATO PA noting that the political dialogue at the parliamentary level covers the most current issues of the agenda regarding Ukraine-NATO cooperation.
The Chairman of the Parliament thanked for the provided expert assistance on the part of the NATO in the framework of preparatory measures to ensure public safety in Ukrainian cities that hosted football championship. Holding of EURO 2012, according to V.Lytvyn, showed that Ukraine can implement "grand projects of European dimension". He said that fans who came to Ukraine got convinced that our country is beautiful and safe.
At the request of K.Lamers, V.Lytvyn informed about the inner political situation in Ukraine on the eve of parliamentary elections, expressing hope that the representatives of NATO PA will participate in the election campaign as observers. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada is convinced that transparent and fair elections will ensure that the new composition of the Parliament "meets public expectations".
In his turn, the President of NATO PA stressed fruitful cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada and the NATO PA and expressed hopes that it will continue developing.
At the same time, the representatives of the NATO PA expressed concern about "some tendencies" that can be observed in Ukraine. According to them, this concerns imprisonment of ex-members of the government and "events around justice system".
V.Lytvyn expressed conviction that to overcome difficulties we need to find a legal solution. "And that is why we need to reach political consensus," he said.