The Ministries for Foreign Affairs: An Agreement is needed between Poland and Ukraine

- Hosting by Poland and Ukraine of EURO 2012 is an event of not only sport, but also of geopolitical character – jointly stated the ministers for foreign affairs of Poland and Ukraine: Anna Fotyga and Arsenij Jaceniuk. An agreement must be signed between Poland and Ukraine.

During the Tuesday press conference in Warsaw and after a meeting with Fotyga, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy said that hosting of EURO 2012 would be a testing ground of Ukraine’s capacity to integrate with Europe. In this test Kiev will have Poland as a strategic partner.

Jaceniuk stressed that hosting of the European Championships entails implementation of structural projects with the value of billions of PLN, i.e. construction of border crossings, roads, stadiums and airports.

The head of Ukrainian Ministry for Foreign Affairs assessed that the economic cooperation between Poland and Ukraine can be a model to be followed by other countries. He informed that Polish businesses have invested approx. USD 360 million in Ukraine, whereas Ukrainian businesses have invested approx. USD 1 billion in Poland. At the same time he added that Ukrainian investors were interested in the shipyards in Gdansk and Gdynia.

The Polish minister assured that all reasonable measures would be undertaken for the joint project of EURO 2012 hosting to be successful, for the satisfaction of the citizens of both countries.

Fotyga stressed that Poland supports European aspirations of Ukraine. She added that Poland supports "a liberal visa regime for Ukraine, also after Poland’s entry into the Schengen area".

PAP, 22nd May 2007