Ukraine – “The Carpathian countries should strengthen their cooperation,” said the spokesman of the Polish Parliament. Poland initiated the creation of the Interparliamentary Assembly representing the countries of the Visegrád Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) and two neighboring Carpathian countries: Ukraine and Romania.
This was reported by Marek Kuchciński, Marshal of the Sejm (Polish Parliament) during a Local Development Forum, held in Truskavets (a city in the region of Lviv, western Ukraine) on June 26th. “We want to offer our Czech and Hungarian partners to create a joint Assembly, not only in the context of our four countries, but also with the help of Ukraine and Romania,” he said.
According to him, the Carpathian countries should strengthen their cooperation to develop infrastructure and improve the economic situation in the region. Ukraine, in particular, should increase a number of border checkpoints with its western neighbors – EU members. “At present, this cooperation is very low, we need to set a goal. Increase the number of border crossings, improving infrastructure between Ukraine and Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania, Ukraine and Poland,” he added.
The concept of the Assembly will be discussed at the Krynica-Zdroj Economic Forum (Poland) from 8 to 10 September 2016. More than 3,000 people from Europe, Central Asia and the USA are expected to attend the Forum.
“Even with a war in Ukraine, we want to strengthen this cooperation. We want our cooperation between parliaments to be one of the most powerful tools that can have an impact on NATO and other country to further influence Russia and to stop its aggressive actions” concluded Kuchciński.
This meeting could be the first step towards realizing the centennial of the Poland project: Intermarium.
It should be noted that Poland will be the presidency of the Visegrád Group on July 1st, 2016.
