Speaker of the Seimas welcomed the reforms initiated by the Ukrainian leadership: Europe as a whole is interested in their success

Press release, 27 November 2019

Photo by Džoja Gunda Barysaitė, Office of the Seimas

Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, who was visiting the Seimas for the first time. During the meeting, the Speaker of the Seimas and the President of Ukraine discussed the aspects of bilateral political and economic cooperation as well as security and defence matters.

‘Our parliaments follow in the tradition of constructive cooperation. We welcome the ambitious reform initiatives launched by the Ukrainian leadership and the efforts to speed up their implementation. We see some concrete achievements, such as the commencement of the activities of the Anti-Corruption Court and the launch of the land reform and the energy sector reform. Europe as a whole is interested in the success of reforms in Ukraine. I believe we can jointly ensure that the changes taking place in Ukraine stay at the focus of the international community. I am therefore pleased that next July Vilnius, in cooperation with Ukraine, will be hosting the fourth Ukraine Reform Conference, which will provide an opportunity to assess the implementation of reforms in Ukraine and ensure continued international support,’ said Mr Pranckietis after the meeting.

The Speaker of the Seimas assured the President of Ukraine that Lithuania stood together with Ukraine in the face of the ongoing aggression and continued to support Ukraine’s choice of Euro-Atlantic integration and its steps towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbas. Therefore, the Speaker of the Seimas believed that the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia must be in force until full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Photos capturing the moments from the meeting are available in the photo gallery.

Paulius Žeimys, Assistant to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6030, e-mail: [email protected]