Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze: Ukraine favors decisions of the Eastern Partnership Summit that would be beneficially fruitful for partner countries and for the European Union

Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze met with Clément Beaune, Adviser to the President of France on European affairs, as a part of an official visit to France. The parties, in particular, discussed preparations for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit. The Vice Prime Minister noted Ukraine’ s interest in the effective holding of the abovesaid Summit and finding solutions that would be mutually beneficial for the partner countries and for the European Union. Clément Beaune assured that France pays much attention to the Eastern Partnership Summit and understands its importance for Ukraine.

The interlocutors tackled expectations of the EaP Summit and the details of its preparation. Adviser to the President of France inquired about the mood of Ukrainians regarding the European course of the country. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stressed that recent data unveiled the growing support for European integration by Ukrainian citizens.

The Vice Prime Minister briefed the Adviser to the President of France on the reform’s course and the situation in the east of the country. She expressed gratitude to France for the support in issues related to preserving Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Vice Prime Minister stressed the Russian Federation still does not comply with the requirements for ending the military aggression against Ukraine, however since the introduction of sanctions it has been already three years. In this regard, the Ukrainian side believes that there are currently no grounds for resuming fully-fledged Russian PACE participation, as this would contradict to the Statute of the Council of Europe and its values.

She stressed the difficulties regarding Hungary's position on the language provisions of the new law on education and added that Hungary's categorical rhetoric is unacceptable and that the question of bilateral relations should not be attempted to be transformed into a multilateral format. While touching upon the language question, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze appealed to the French side with an offer to include the Ukrainian language into the list of foreign languages, an examination of which could be compiled for obtaining a French diploma of secondary education. In turn, Clément Beaune promised to raise this issue in the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research of France.