Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s integration into the EU emphasized this during a meeting with the Latvian delegation. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked the people of Latvia, members of the parliament and the government for consistent and constant support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

She noted that Ukraine could benefit from Latvia's experience in the process of European integration: ‘Right now we are working on increasing the capacity of the secretariat of our Committee, to be able to analyze all draft laws before the first and second readings. Now we do not have such an opportunity. We are also working on the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU, as well as the recommendations of the European Council, which supplemented granting Ukraine a candidate status’. The Chair of the Committee considers insufficient institutional capacity to be one of the main challenges on the way to European integration: ‘We need people, training, experience. Anything that can be done in this direction to streamline processes will be very helpful’.

Zanda Kalninja-Lukasevicha, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, noted that Latvia gives 0.8% of its GDP to help Ukraine. This is the second indicator in the world. The first is demonstrated by Estonia. According to Ms. Kalninja-Lukasevicha, what Ukraine is doing in the conditions of war is admirable: ‘During a full-scale war, in which you are fighting for your sovereignty and independence, you manage to continue providing all public services, make plans for major reconstruction, continue reforms and European integration. This is very inspiring. And this is a motivation for other countries not to get tired’. Mrs. Zanda Kalninya-Lukashevich assured that Latvia will continue to provide political and military support to Ukraine, as well as help in reconstruction.

The parties discussed the ban on issuing EU visas to citizens of Russia. The Chair of the Committee reported that the Verkhovna Rada had adopted resolutions calling for a ban on issuing visas to Russians. ‘These are people who support killing of Ukrainians. They support the expansion of the empire in this way. They don't deserve the right to plan and spend their vacations in countries they hate so much’, she said.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze noted that Ukraine needs to preserve the unity and unanimity of its European partners in opposing the Russian Federation, as well as armed support: ‘Now we need to unblock access to NATO tanks so that Ukraine can receive not only Soviet equipment. It is also time to make a political decision regarding training of Ukrainian fighter jet pilots’.

The Chair of the Committee also emphasized that Ukraine needs the support of European partners in the implementation of the reforms that must be carried out before the start of negotiations on EU membership. One of the important reforms is the adoption of the law on media. According to Ms. Zanda Kalninja-Lukasevicha, Latvia has gone through a difficult path to creating a public broadcaster and is now very proud of having a media that is truly independent of the state. According to her, Ukraine could benefit from Latvia's experience.