Stefanchuk underscores importance of Lublin Triangle

The era of large associations is passing away, so now we need to pay more attention to interstate regional entities that have many common interests, such as the Lublin Triangle (Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania).

"In the global context, the era of large associations is passing away. Now we need to focus, first of all, on regional friendly associations, because such countries have similar economic, political, and security interests. Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania have a lot in common in these areas," Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said in an interview with Ukrinform during his visit to Warsaw to participate in the 11th Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Seimas and the Senate of the Republic of Poland.            

According to him, the soundness of this approach is confirmed by the fact that "there were practically no differences" between the three countries according to the final document of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

The Verkhovna Rada Speaker stressed that the creation of the Lublin Triangle between the three countries last year was a "very good step".

According to Stefanchuk, the parties discussed a total of 38 issues that were reflected in the final document. In particular, they talked about the military aggression of the Russian Federation, condemnation of Russia's actions in Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories, energy security in the context of Nord Stream 2, construction of a nuclear power plant in Ostrovets [Grodno region, Belarus], unreasonable gas prices in Europe . In addition, a number of political issues related to the Lukashenko regime, its influence on Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, as well as regional cooperation were raised.

According to Stefanchuk, further cooperation of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly will largely depend on the political situation in the region at the time of the next session which is to take place in Vilnius next year.

The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania was established in 2005. The inaugural meeting of the Assembly took place in Kyiv in June 2008. The committees on European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, security cooperation, economic, regional and local cooperation, humanitarian and cultural cooperation work within the framework of the Assembly.

The Lublin Triangle was formed in July 2020 by the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania who signed the joint declaration on the establishment of a new regional alliance. Among the priorities of the format are strengthening the region, security enhancement, Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO, development of economic cooperation, joint counteraction to hybrid threats.

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