The Ukrainian-Polish Intergovernmental Coordination Council on Interregional Cooperation emphasized during the 15th meeting in Zbarazh, March 21-22.

The Ukrainian part of the Council is headed by First Deputy Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Viacheslav Nehoda.

The Polish part of the Council is headed by Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration of the Republic of Poland Renata Szczęch.

"Interregional and cross-border cooperation between our states forms good-neighborly relations. We jointly solve the problems of local and regional development. The principles of respect for state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of states, respect for human rights and freedoms are integral to this. Taking into account that Ukraine's membership in the European Union is a strategic interest of the Republic of Poland, cooperation between our countries is mutually beneficial", said Viacheslav Nehoda, the head of the Ukrainian part of the Council.

According to him, the Council's activities contribute to solving the issues of opening and reconstruction of border crossing points and border infrastructure, rescuing and protecting the population in emergency situations, preventing and counteracting offenses during the crossing of the Ukrainian-Polish border, increasing the effectiveness of spatial planning, and cross-border cooperation.

For each of the aforesaid areas, the Council summarized its activities and identified the agenda for the near future.

The Parties also focused on the implementation of the Carpathian Declaration of Intention to establish a new macro-regional strategy for the development of the Carpathian region. The document was signed in September 2018. The head of the Ukrainian part of the Council stressed that the macro-regional strategy would correspond to the priority directions of cooperation in line with the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Mountains.

"Such a combination should ensure the development of cooperation between the states of the Carpathian region", he emphasized.

The head of the Polish part of the Council, Renata Szczęch, emphasized that Poland attaches great importance to the construction of European unity, in particular by strengthening the Ukrainian-Polish contacts. She noted that we should strive for further strengthening of relations between Ukraine and the EU, as well as increasing of propositions within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, the 10th anniversary of which is celebrated this year.

Already in 2020, the Parties will assess how effectively the implementation of certain tasks today is being promoted. It is then that the 16th meeting of the Ukrainian-Polish Intergovernmental Coordination Council on Interregional Cooperation will take place in Poland.