Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Ukraine

Photo: saeima.lv

"The Baltic states and Nordic countries have always firmly supported Ukraine and will continue supporting it also in the future as demonstrated by the joint visit of top parliamentary officials from eight Baltic and Nordic countries to Kyiv,” Libina-Egnere said, underlining that invasion into territory of another country and oppression and persecution of people were actions inacceptable in the 21st century. She also voiced concerns about the human rights situation in Crimea, including persecution of Crimean Tatars, the Latvian parliament’s press service said.

The Latvian parliament vice-speaker said the Baltic and Nordic parliamentarians highly appreciated Ukraine’s efforts and contribution to implementation of the Minsk agreement because peaceful settlement was the only way to actually resolve the conflict. They are also aware that breaches of the truce and military, political and economic pressure on part of Russia make it difficult to take the required decisions, she said.

"The restrictions can only be revised upon full compliance with the Minsk agreement. We will continue the policy of not recognizing the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol which also includes continued sanctions against Russia,” Libina-Egnere said.

During their visit to Ukraine the top parliamentary officials from eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) also met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who informed them about the work of the Ukrainian government. Speaking on behalf of the NB8 delegation, the Latvian parliament vice-speaker praised Ukraine’s accomplishments in reforms so far but noted that more reforms still had to be carried out, including the Constitutional reform. The Baltic and Nordic parliamentarians also expressed their willingness to provide practical support to Ukraine and share with it experience in, for example, judicial reforms and the fight against corruption.

The delegation of the Nordic and Baltic lawmakers also met with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and other high-ranking Ukrainian law enforcement officials as well as with representatives of NGOs.

The NB8 delegation of parliament speakers is visiting Ukraine on February 1-3 at the initiative of Latvia which currently holds the rotating NB8 Presidency. The NB8 format brings together five Nordic countries – Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden – and the three Baltic states – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. It has been an active cooperation platform since the early 1990s.