Foreign Minister Urmas Paet along with Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende and Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard met today in Kyiv with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Yatsenyuk and Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia.
Estonia considers the rapid improvement of the security situation in Ukraine to be crucial
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Paet said that the security situation in Ukraine remains the most important issue. «Developments in Eastern Ukraine are still complex and the migrant population is growing due to what is happening in Crimea and the eastern part of the country,» Paet noted. According to the UN, approximately 10 000 people, a third of them children, have now relocated. «Everything must be done to get the situation in Eastern Ukraine under control and begin de-escalation. Ensuring the lawful conduct of elections in certain regions of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts is also very important,» the Estonian Foreign Minister added at his meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseni Yatsenyuk.
According to Paet, the stability and economic development of Ukraine is very important for the whole of Europe. «We highly appreciate the commitment of the Government of Ukraine and consider the implementation of political and economic reforms to be an absolute necessity, which in turn will raise trust both within the country, as well as abroad,» Paet noted. «The presidential elections and their results are also of key importance.»
In speaking of Ukraine's relations with the European Union, Paet emphasized the importance of quickly signing and implementing the free trade and association agreements. «A clear perspective for EU membership is very important for Ukraine, but also for all other European countries fulfilling the requirements for membership and who wish to join,» Paet said. «Both the EU's first instalment of the 100 million euro loan to Ukraine, as well as the IMF’s aid package are testimony to the fact that the international community trusts the Ukrainian government and has put great hopes on the implementation of necessary reforms and reduction of corruption,» Foreign Minister Paet said. He added that Estonia has been a long-time supporter of the implementation of the Ukraine-EU visa-free regime which will soon be a reality.
Paet confirmed that Estonia has supported the development of Ukraine through both bilateral projects and multilateral programs and as well as through multilateral cooperation. «We see the main areas of cooperation as being support of regional development, strengthening civil society, the introduction of information and telecommunication technology applications in public administration, and cooperation in educational and environmental areas,» Paet noted, adding that the implementation of e-government is not just a matter of convenience, but also helps to increase governance transparency.