‘Our friends from the Baltic countries and Poland are clearly aware of the threat Russia continues to pose’, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU visited Riga at the invitation of the head of the European Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Latvia.
‘We compared notes in Riga before the meeting of the committees on European affairs and European integration of member countries and candidate countries dedicated to foreign security policy, further integration opportunities for candidate countries, in particular Ukraine and Moldova, and plans for Georgia’, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said. She noted that it was a frank conversation between friends about the challenges and necessary steps to maintain the unity of the free world in supporting Ukraine and in the war against Russia and about opening negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership as early as 2023. The parties also talked about further steps towards Ukraine’s European perspective and cooperation in promoting Ukraine's NATO membership aspiration at the Vilnius Summit in July this year.

‘Our friends from the Baltic countries and Poland are well aware of the threat that Russia continues to pose, and they clearly understand that we need to effectively repel this threat. That is why cooperation and a clear vision of the future of the continent are needed. They are ready to continue this work at the European and Euro-Atlantic level’, summed up the Chair of the Committee after the meeting. According to her, Ukraine's European partners agree that it is necessary to develop a clear understanding at the level of the EU and NATO when Ukraine can become a member of these communities. ‘The expansion of the space of freedom, security and peace by these unions ensured stability on the European continent for many decades’, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said. She noted that friends of Ukraine are looking for opportunities, formats, tools, and mechanisms to help Ukraine as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze also visited the Latvian community, which is an example of effective energy management for the entire country. ‘They use a mix of different energy resources: solar energy for heat generation, natural gas and wood waste. Also, at the municipal level, they invest in the energy efficiency of buildings. As a result, this community managed to reduce the electricity and heat bills almost half. I am convinced that our communities will be interested in such experience in the future during the reconstruction of the country after military actions’, said the Chair of the Committee.

As part of strengthening its energy independence, Latvia is also developing renewable and sustainable energy sources at the national level, in particular, it is investing in the modernisation of its hydroelectric power plants. The recently renovated HPP are one of the successful examples of energy diversification in Latvia. Energy independence for many EU countries, including the Baltic states, became the main challenge after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. ‘We definitely have something to build cooperation and joint efforts on in the future to achieve the goals of the European Green Deal’, concluded Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.