The parliamentary delegation of Moldova visited Ukraine at the invitation of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU

Members of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU met with representatives of the Parliament of Moldova, who visited Ukraine at the invitation of the Committee. The parties discussed the efforts of both states on European integration and support for Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression. The Chair of the Committee, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, emphasised that it was important for Western allies to move from the narrative that Ukraine should not lose the war to the realisation that it should win. Accordingly, the quantity and quality of support should also be substantially increased. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze urged her Moldovan colleagues to help strengthen support for Ukraine: “If Ukraine loses, it will mean that Russia can attack Moldova and other countries. If Ukraine wins and becomes a member of NATO, it will bring stable peace to the continent.”

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the EU also spoke about the challenges of European integration, and the need to strengthen institutional capacity, in particular, to increase the number of experts in the Committee's Secretariat. According to her, the Committee reviews draft laws for compliance with the EU law not only before the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada but also when they are prepared for the second reading. “We already have several positive examples where we managed to amend draft laws that have already been finalised for the second reading. Thanks to the opinion of the experts of the Committee's Secretariat, we were able to attract attention to and correct the inconsistencies with EU law in the draft laws prepared for the second reading in the Parliament,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

The first deputy Chairman of the Committee, Vadym Halaichuk, believes that the visit of Moldovan colleagues marks the start of active cooperation, exchange of opinions and synchronisation of efforts on the path to the European integration of both countries. He also emphasised the need to intensify the inter-parliamentary dialogue between candidate countries for joining the European Union. We should update existing cooperation platforms and consider the creation of new ones that would enable joint work for all countries moving towards EU membership.

Secretary of the Committee Valentyn Nalyvaichenko noted that although members of the Committee on Ukraine's integration into the EU represent different political forces, they are united in their joint work towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Regarding cooperation with Moldova, he reminded that both countries have a positive experience of cooperation in the field of security, which should be further developed. “Regarding European integration, let's support each other. Let’s cooperate to achieve our goal as soon as possible — to become full members of the European Union and, I hope, NATO as well,” said Valentyn Nalyvaichenko.