Focus on support for democracy in Ukraine

25.03.14 | News
The crisis in Ukraine has given the Nordic Region, the Baltic countries and Poland another reason to strengthen their co-operation. Consolidating the democracy process in Ukraine is an important goal and it can be done on several levels, says the Nordic Council President, Karin Åström.

The Swedish President of the Nordic Council, Karin Åström (S), and Vice-President Hans Wallmark (M), concluded their visit to the Baltic countries and the Polish parliament on Monday. The purpose of the dialogue meetings was to show support to the countries in view of the tense situation in Ukraine and to discuss how best to strengthen democratic development in the country.

"During the course of the visit it was made very clear how much the Baltic countries and Poland value co-operation with the Nordic countries. Co-operation takes place as several levels, through political bodies but also through NGOs", says the President of the Nordic Council, Karin Åström.

Vice-President, Hans Wallmark emphasised at the meetings that the Nordic-Baltic co-operation must focus on Ukraine rather than Russia. This reasoning was backed-up by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Latvian parliament, Ojārs Kalniņš.

"We must be on our guard that what is happening in the Crimea does not overshadow the need to help the parliament in Kiev to function in a democratic manner", said Kalniņš on Monday.

Important to maintain dialogue

In Poland the Swedish Presidency of the Nordic Council met with, amongst others, the former prime minister, now Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Senate, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, and the Marshal of the Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz, who underlined that the Nordic Council's support for the Baltic Sea co-operation was now very important. The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Sejm, the lower house in the parliament, Grzegorz Schetyna, spoke along the same lines.

"The involvement of the Nordic countries is important for security of the Baltic countries", said Schetyna.

In the meeting with the Estonian parliament, Vice-President Laine Randjärv, who is also President of the Baltic Assembly, said that it was important for the countries bordering on Russia not to panic or to overreact to the current situation.

"We recognise and really appreciate the support we receive from the Nordic Region", said Randjärv.