“At the Parliamentary Assembly, deputies from Poland and Ukraine discuss security issues, including security in cyberspace, bilateral cooperation in the field of economy, in particular energy, and the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“We have already allocated four billion euros for military aid to Ukraine alone. This amount does not include humanitarian aid and support in the economic sphere, as well as our diplomatic efforts in the international arena”, – the co-chair of the assembly, deputy marshal of the Seimas Monika Velikhovska said at the beginning of the meeting.
Velikhovska also emphasized that Poland is happy to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate for the EU and to open accession negotiations. She thanked the Ukrainian side for their help in the fight against floods and their willingness to send 100 Ukrainian rescuers to the disaster zone.
Ukrainian Co-Chair, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Olena Kondratyuk, thanked Poland for the assistance provided to Ukraine after the full-scale invasion. “Not taking into account all social payments to Ukrainians, Poland provided assistance in the total amount of 6.3 billion dollars,” said Kondratiuk.
She also noted that Ukrainian refugees have not become a burden for Poland.
“700,000 citizens of Ukraine are legally employed on the territory of Poland, Ukrainians founded almost 60,000 active, individual enterprises, and in the first half of 2024, every tenth new enterprise in Poland was opened by Ukrainians. The contribution of working Ukrainians to Poland’s GDP was approximately one percent. Forecasts show long-term growth of this indicator. And this is an answer to those skeptics who sometimes make provocative, manipulative statements that Poland is throwing money at Ukrainians. As we can see, this money is returned to Poland’s budget from the activities of Ukrainians in Poland and even exceeds the amount of what the Polish government spent on refugees from Ukraine,” the Ukrainian senior official insists.
Kondratiuk expressed her hope that during Poland’s presidency of the EU Council, the “European Union – Ukraine” summit will be held, dedicated to the issues of reconstruction and Ukraine’s accession to the European community. In the end, the deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada called on her Polish colleagues to convince their partners to allow Polish air defense to protect Ukrainian skies in the west of the country.
At the Parliamentary Assembly, deputies from Poland and Ukraine discuss security issues, including security in cyberspace, bilateral cooperation in the field of economy, in particular energy, and Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO.
Historical issues are also raised. Polish deputies emphasize the need to unblock the process of exhuming the victims of Volyn, believing that such a decision will be able to “defuse a historical bomb” between the countries.
12 Ukrainian deputies and 18 deputies of the Polish Seimas and Senate participate in the Parliamentary Assembly. Ministers of energy and agrarian policy of Ukraine, deputy ministers of foreign affairs, economy, infrastructure, as well as the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance also participate in the session online.