Mr. Francois Delatran's speech at the Conference on Reconstruction of Ukraine held in Lugano
The speech of Mr. Francois Delatre, Secretary General of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, at the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which took place in Lugano on July 4-5 of this year.
Excellencies,
France has stood firmly by Ukraine’s side since the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression. Our new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, went to Ukraine as soon as she was appointed to express our support, preparing for the visit on June 16 of President Macron, together with his German, Italian and Romanian counterparts. The goal is clear: Russia must be pushed back and Ukraine must win, which can only happen with the return of peace to a free and independent Ukraine.
France has therefore made the clear choice to provide Ukraine with considerable military assistance, including heavy weapons, according to Ukraine’s expressed needs. We will continue and increase our support as long as necessary as we reaffirmed during the G7 Summit in Elmau. With no end to the war insight, we understand that this effort will be a long term one and we are ready for it.
Overall, France has mobilized 2 billion dollars for Ukraine, in addition to our military support. In order to express its solidarity and its support, as closely as possible to the Ukrainian authorities, France has also chosen to permanently maintain its embassy on Ukrainian soil. France has deployed a team of forensic experts to gather evidence of crimes and conduct DNA and ballistic testing. A mobile DNA laboratory will be delivered to Ukraine this week, so that Ukrainians can fully document these crimes. The evidence will contribute to the cases opened by the International Criminal Court and other judicial institutions with France’s fully support.
Today, we are laying the groundwork that is necessary to make reconstruction a successful process. In this context, I have the pleasure to announce that France will focus its bilateral efforts on the region of Chernihiv, which was particularly hardly hit by Russian bombing during the early weeks of the war. The city of Chernihiv has old established bonds with France and especially with the Île-de-France region, around Paris.
To conclude, we are proud and pleased that, under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, Ukraine was granted candidate status, as Ukraine’s future is more than ever in Europe. Thank you.
Service de presse et de communication
Ambassade de France en Ukraine
https://www.facebook.com/KievDiplomatic/posts/434384042032441
https://www.facebook.com/KievDiplomatic/posts/434387218698790
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalTradeClubUkraine/posts/1071280516809930