Ukraine appears to be making every effort to take advantage of the opportunity connected with the holding of a joint session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in which the EU Troika will also take part. This is the first time that a meeting on this level will take place, and it is no accident that it will be held in Kyiv, which is seeking to play a leading role in this region.
In his speech President Yushchenko declared that “Ukraine has been and will remain a reliable partner of the countries of the Black sea region and the European Union in this work and it will actively assist in the successful implementation of our integration goals.” The president also expressed his confidence that with the emergence of contacts on the foreign ministerial level with the EU and BSEC countries, a “qualitatively new dimension of international cooperation both in the Black Sea region and within broader borders” is being created. “Our cooperation will help expand contacts among our people on every level, lead us to increased wellbeing of our countries’ peoples, and the strengthening of trust among them.” He also called upon every partner in the region to apply more active efforts to strengthening humanitarian contacts, cultural dialogue, and cooperation in order to solve social challenges and support democratic processes.
President Yushchenko also called on his partners to adopt more active measures to improve ecological safety and environmental protection. “This problem is extremely important for every country in our region, and we attach great significance to cooperation with the European Union in this sphere,” Yushchenko underlined.
The president also noted that Ukraine supports and fully shares the main idea of the communique of the European Commission, “Black Sea Cooperation: A New Regional Initiative” — to achieve rapprochement with the Black Sea region and the EU thanks to concrete cooperation projects. “The Black Sea region is an inseparable part of the single Europe, and I am sure that cooperation within this region should correspond in a proper way to the general logic of European integration,” he said.
Speaking about the priorities in the Black Sea region, Yushchenko underlined that for Ukraine a strategic goal is to implement a “new energy policy both in our region and in Europe in general. Its sense, in our opinion, lies in the development of clear and uniform rules for everybody and equal access to energy sources,” he said.
Ukraine’s head of state also emphasized that the need for such an approach has grown more urgent as a result of events on the energy markets, “attempts to use energy as a lever to exert pressure.” He invited the participating countries to attend the energy summit that will take place on May 23 in Ukraine, underlining that one of the main topics of the summit’s work will be “the development of the principles of a single energy transit policy.”
Ukraine supports the creation of a universal free trade zone in our region, which would be free of exceptions and restrictions and is based on the norms and principles of the WTO.
The president also underlined that Ukraine is paying special attention to the peaceful resolution of “frozen conflicts” and overcoming their negative consequences. “We will continue to cooperate in efforts to secure a constantly high level of regional and international cooperation to prevent terrorism and fight against illegal migration, human trafficking, illegal drugs, psychotropic substances, and the arms trade.”
He also expressed the hope that as a result of the development of cooperation within the framework of the programs “of Black Sea cooperation the principles of free travel across borders for citizens of states, goods, capital, and services will be implemented.”
According to President Yushchenko, Kyiv sees great prospects for the implementation of a Eurasian transport corridor and other key initiatives that can help the region to fully integrate into the global economic space. Ukraine is going to continue to encourage all joint possibilities for a more efficient exploitation of the unique transit potential of the Black Sea region, Yushchenko said.
The Day’s FACT FILE
The Declaration on Black Sea Economic Cooperation, establishing the main mechanisms of economic cooperation of the Black Sea basin states, was signed on June 25, 1992, at the first BSEC summit in Istanbul. The permanent members of the BSEC are Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Thirteen countries have monitoring status: Austria, Belarus, Germany, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, USA, Croatia, Tunis, France, and the Czech Republic.
