Ukraine’s partnership with the European People’s Party is “strategically important in the context of its ambition to join the EU,” President Viktor Yushchenko said during a joint press conference with EPP President Wilfried Martens, EPP Secretary General Antonio Lopez-Isturiz and BYuT leader Yulia Tymoshenko in Lisbon on Thursday, president's press office reported.

Yushchenko praised the party and its leaders for promoting European values and ideas and said Yulia Tymoshenko and Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, leader of the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc, had come to Portugal for today's EPP summit to help Ukraine’s political partners understand “those visions and values that ensure stability in our society.”

 
The president said the country’s newly elected lawmakers would soon convene for their first parliamentary session and reiterated his demand that the democratic forces must "consolidate" the nation. “I am convinced the election winners appreciate this mission,"he said.
 
After the press conference Viktor Yushchenko met with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Lisbon on Thursday.

The two leaders spoke about WTO and border issues. They welcomed the progress that has been made in the implementation of deals signed during the September 14 Ukraine-EU summit and agreed to ensure that the European Parliament and Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada complete all necessary procedures for ratifying this year’s bilateral agreementson the liberalization of visa rules and readmission.

 
Yushchenko and Barroso also discussed post-election developments in Ukraine and results of EU treaty talks.The Ukrainian leader invited EU representatives to attend next year’s energy summit in Kyiv.
 
Viktor Yushchenko also met with European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering. They spoke about post-election developments in Ukraine.

Yushchenko said his country’s political forces were engaged in coalition talks and stressed the importance ofbuilding constructiverelations between government and opposition.

Poettering said Ukraine’s new democratic coalition “creates new opportunitiesfor solidifying its EU course” and added that the European Parliament backed Ukraine’s EU membership bid.

The Ukrainian leader asked the EP president to ensure that its members recognize the Great Famine of 1932-1933 as genocide.

Спасибі за Вашу активність, Ваше питання буде розглянуто модераторами найближчим часом

1377