Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland at a meeting in Kyiv discussed the holding of international Ukraine reform conference scheduled for July 2-July 4, 2019 in Toronto.
“I am sure that we have a unique chance to reach a qualitatively new level of cooperation, which gives reason to hope for concrete, significant results of the conference. In fact, we can lay down an effective action plan for the next five years with clear goals, objectives and time frames,” the press service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reported on May 8, citing Parubiy.
The chairman of the parliament said that active preparations for the conference are underway, and both teams have already developed the corresponding base for the form and the content of this event and thanked the ambassadors of both countries for the real teamwork. He said that Ukraine will be represented by a powerful delegation.
Parubiy noted the need to continue and strengthen the sanctions against the Russian Federation. He thanked Ottawa for its principled position on this issue and expressed hope for further cooperation, especially in security issues, in the military sphere and on Ukraine’s path to NATO. He recalled that the Ukrainian parliament prolonged the law on the extension of military cooperation, including with Canada. “I hope that Canada will continue to be a conductor of Ukraine on the way to full membership in the Alliance,” Parubiy said, adding that “it is a great honor for Ukraine that such a powerful state like Canada supports Ukraine with such devotion in the difficult years of our history, in those tests that Ukraine faces.”
Parubiy thanked Freeland for sending a Canadian monitoring mission to Ukraine and separately noted the importance, speed and quality of the Canadian assessment of elections in Ukraine. The conclusions of CANADEM, according to him, were complete, unbiased and reflected the tone of the international reaction to the electoral process in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, there was a lot of information about possible election fraud, so we are interested in Ukraine having the maximum number of observers who could confirm the democratic nature of our election process. This assessment has become a very important factor for stabilization in society and the assessment of presidential elections,” Parubiy said.
In turn, Freeland said that there is a great interest in this conference. The organizers create many opportunities for Ukraine and Ukrainians to tell about themselves, she said.
Canada cares about democracy in Europe and is ready to help Ukraine, the Canadian foreign minister said and thanked the Ukrainians for the democratic changes over the past five years and the demonstrated high level of democracy during the presidential elections, especially in such difficult conditions.
