Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov met with Speakers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden
18 August 2014, 18:29
On Monday Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov met with Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Loreta Grauziniene, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Solvita Aboltina, and with the Chairperson of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden Per Westerberg.
During the meeting, the Parties discussed development of inter-parliamentary relations and a system of European collective security in view of Russia's aggressive policy.
In words of Oleksandr Turchynov, with its aggressive actions Russia is trying to ruin the European collective security system. "Russia is becoming the main threat not only to Ukraine but to Europe in general", he stressed.
Moreover, the Chairperson of the Parliament stressed that Ukrainian military men are "step by step" liberating settlements in the ATO zone.
He noted that in order to confront Russian aggression more efficiently, our country needs military and technical assistance. "History has shown that a compromise with an aggressor is impossible. Such compromise started the World War II. Putin merely understands the language of force, there is no alternative to this", said Oleksandr Turchynov.
On his turn, Chairperson of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden Per Westerberg emphasized that in his country "the whole political spectrum supports Ukraine".
The Parties discussed implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. In words of Oleksandr Turchynov, the Verkhovna Rada will ratify this document "in the nearest future".
According to Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Solvita Aboltina, Latvia was one of the first EU countries that ratified the Agreement. "We are very much interested in witnessing the progress in our bilateral relations", she said.
The need to conduct reforms in Ukraine, especially in economy, legal and judicial spheres, was also discussed at the meeting. European colleagues assured that their countries are ready to provide Ukraine with any assistant required.
As it was informed earlier, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Turchynov will participate in the Conference of Parliamentary Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic Countries on August 17-19 (Palanga, the Republic of Lithuania).
On Tuesday the Chairperson of Ukrainian Parliament will meet with President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite.
Oleksandr Turchynov will lay flowers to Taras Shevchenko monument in Vilnius.