Slovenia is ready to provide expert support to Ukraine as part of its path to joining the European Union. This was discussed during a meeting between Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine, and Marko Štucin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

“I am glad to welcome you to Kyiv. Today, Ukraine is at an important stage of the negotiation process on joining the EU – we are holding bilateral meetings on a set of fundamental reforms. And I think it is very important to discuss how we can coordinate our efforts to ensure a high pace of the entire EU enlargement process. The value of enlargement is more than the progress of a candidate country, it is about the security and prosperity of the entire Union,” Olha Stefanishyna said.

The parties discussed, among other things, the dynamics of the current negotiation process on Ukraine’s accession to the EU and the possibilities of cooperation between the countries in this area.

According to Marko Štucin, Slovenia, which has been a member of the EU for more than 20 years, has always supported the enlargement process, actively helped the Western Balkan countries on their way to the EU and is ready to provide all available support and assistance to Ukraine. He noted that Slovenia had a strong expertise that Ukraine could use in its work to adapt its legislation to EU law.

Thus, according to him, the Slovenian Center of Excellence in Finance is already providing expert support to Ukrainian specialists, including the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance. The Deputy Prime Minister thanked the Slovenian experts for their assistance in preparing for the screening of Ukrainian legislation and expressed interest in deepening cooperation to strengthen institutional capacities at the regional level, in particular within the new phase of the U-LEAD programme.

The parties also agreed on the importance of cooperation within the framework of EU technical cooperation and assistance instruments, such as TAIEX and Twinning.

“Next week we will start discussing Cluster 2, which is dedicated to the Internal Market. In this area, we need additional expertise and exchange of experience, and we will be grateful to Slovenia for its support on this path. I propose to identify priority areas of cooperation in this block of issues,” Olha Stefanishyna said.

The participants also discussed deepening cooperation between the candidate countries.

“We work very closely with North Macedonia and Albania. We also had a meaningful meeting in Canada with the Minister of European Affairs of Serbia. And, of course, we are actively cooperating with Moldova. I think it is very important that candidate countries share knowledge and expertise. The impetus for EU enlargement came from Ukraine. This momentum cannot be wasted,” said the Deputy Prime Minister. “Therefore, we are fully open to cooperation. We do not see enlargement as a competition, but we adhere to the approach that progress should be based on merit.”

The parties also exchanged views on strengthening sanctions pressure on russia for its ongoing aggression and on the possibility of using frozen russian assets for the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine.