PM met with Polish Senate Marshal and Lithuanian Seimas Speaker

On Monday, March 17, Ukrainian Prime Minister A. Yatseniuk met with Marshal of the Senate of Poland Bogdan Borusewicz and Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Loreta Grauziniene.

Yatseniuk on behalf of the government thanked for support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and its independence, which was expressed by the EU member states, especially by Lithuania and Poland.

He also expressed hope that a political part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will be signed this week. “This is what is expected by Ukrainians. This is what took the millions to the streets. This is for what the Heavenly Hundred gave their lives - for the European future of Ukraine.”

The Marshal of the Polish Senate noted that this visit is held in difficult times due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, he stressed that accusations of the Russian side to Ukraine of the alleged discrimination of the Russian-speaking citizens are groundless, as well as there is no evidence of discrimination against other ethnic minorities in Ukraine. According to Borusewicz, Ukraine is home to 30,000 people with Polish roots: "We do not have signals that anyone treated them badly."

Yatseniuk, in turn, emphasized that the evidence for this is the fact that the language of communication at the meeting with the Marshal of the Polish Senate and the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas was Russian.

The Marshal noted that the meeting discussed the issue of economic support from Poland as well as support for the reform of local self-government.

In turn, the Prime Minister of Ukraine stressed the importance of the Polish experience of reforms in this area.

The Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas underlined that Lithuania jointly with other Baltic states condemns the act of aggression against Ukraine on the part of Russia. Speaking about the yesterday's so-called referendum, Loreta Grauziniene noted that “the whole world now sees that there is an attempt to redraw the political map.”

The Speaker of the Seimas expressed support for Ukraine and stressed the readiness of Lithuania in helping Ukraine after the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

The Prime Minister said that the so-called referendum in Crimea was a clear embodiment of the principle "it is not important how one votes, but how one considers.

A. Yatseniuk reiterated that Ukraine is ready to negotiate with the Russian Federation: "Only such negotiations cannot be held at gunpoint of Russian assault rifles."