Press release, 6 September 2013
On 6 September 2013, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, met with Volodymyr Rybak, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The Speaker of the Seimas assured his support for Ukraine's ambition to sign an Association Agreement with the EU already this year at the EU Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius in November.
"During the summer, Ukraine did substantial work in connection with lawmaking and other fields and made significant efforts to ensure the rule of law in the country. We can see this, the EU can see this, and, therefore, I think that the process of your integration into the European family is irreversible," stated Vydas Gedvilas.
He pointed to the attempts by some countries to put pressure on Ukraine by economic levers. "Your general public and politicians, however, support the processes of integration into the EU, therefore it is very likely that, despite the pressure, you will achieve this objective," said the Speaker of the Seimas.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada asserted that Ukraine was determined to follow the path towards European integration. "We do our utmost, we meet our commitments, and, moreover, there is an increasing number of citizens supporting the integration," said Volodymyr Rybak.
He underlined the great contribution of Lithuania and personal contribution of the Speaker of the Seimas to signing the Association Agreement. "I would also like to convey thanks from the opposition. In case everything goes as planned, we will be very happy if the Association Agreement is signed during the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union," said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Tomas Beržinskas, Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6019, mob. +370 698 42 786, e-mail: [email protected]
