The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk met with the Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Szymon Hołownia
This is the first visit of the Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland to Ukraine after his election.
First of all, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk and the Speaker of the Polish Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, who arrived in Ukraine on a visit, paid tribute to the memory of the MPs of Ukraine and employees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine who died as a result of russian armed aggression, and to the memory of the servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine who laid down their young lives defending the state, law and human dignity while serving near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 31 August 2015.
During the meeting, the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine first of all thanked Szymon Hołownia for his personal efforts in supporting Ukraine and expressed gratitude for all political decisions of the Polish Sejm in support of Ukraine.
In addition, Ruslan Stefanchuk noted the importance of the participation of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland and the support of the initiatives set out in the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
At the same time, he thanked the Polish side for its continued support of Ukraine on our path to NATO membership. “In July, the NATO Summit will be held in Washington, D.C., preceded by a high-level meeting at the level of the heads of parliaments of NATO member states,” the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said, stressing that he counts on a common position of parliaments on Ukraine’s approach to the Alliance: “I really want us to come out with a common, powerful position of parliaments on Ukraine's approach to NATO.”
“I hope that by this time a security agreement between Ukraine and Poland will be signed. Our countries have held two rounds of consultations on the text of the document,” the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine said.
The parties also discussed Ukraine's path to EU membership. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed hope that the work within the approved negotiation framework would begin in the near future.
The interlocutors also paid attention to inter-parliamentary cooperation, effective work between the staffs of the Polish and Ukrainian parliaments and high-quality dialogue at the level of friendship groups.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine thanked for the support of Ukraine on international platforms, in particular in the issues of sanctions pressure against the russian federation, the creation of an international compensation mechanism, the establishment of a special tribunal, within the framework of the Crimean Platform and other parliamentary assemblies.
Finally, they touched upon the topic of reconstruction. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine addressed his colleague with a proposal to launch joint projects at the level of the heads of parliaments: “These could be projects to restore kindergartens, schools, or hospitals.” Ruslan Stefanchuk noted that this had already been discussed the day before during a meeting in Bialystok, expressing gratitude that “Poland is taking the most active part and the most active interest in rebuilding Ukraine.”
“We will oppose the narrative of hatred, anger, and war with the narrative of cooperation, building the future of our peoples, and good cooperation,” said the Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Szymon Hołownia, following the meeting.
He also emphasised that after the Summit of the Speakers of the Parliaments of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine, the leaders will implement the concrete actions initiated in Bialystok, where “a platform wider than bilateral relations was created.”
In conclusion, Szymon Hołownia noted that today's meeting also launched certain processes.
“We are no longer declaring, or talking about declarations, that we want to see Ukraine in the European Union, but we are already thinking about what things to implement in the process of Ukraine's accession to the European Union, beyond declarations.”
He also said the parties agreed to strengthen cooperation between the parliaments at the level of commissions and committees.