President visits Ukraine - News - National Security Bureau

28.11.2011

President visits Ukraine

On Monday, November 28, 2011, Presidents of Poland and Ukraine Bronisław Komorowski and Victor Yanukovych fixed a foundation plaque on the construction site of the Polish Military Memorial within the National Historical Memorial Reserve in Bykivnia near Kiev.

  • www.president.pl/en
    www.president.pl/en
  • www.president.pl/en
    www.president.pl/en

President Komorowski thanked President Yanukovych for having taken all necessary decisions needed for the construction of the Memorial. – I am confident that soon a Memorial site will be inaugurated which will commemorate Polish victims and betoken the Polish memory of them but will also symbolize our joint memory of all victims of the totalitarian system, emphasized President Komorowski.

He noted that Bykivnia will be the burial place for the urns which bind together all Katyn crimes. – Here, there is earth from Katyn, Kharkov and Mednoye. Also there is earth from Warsaw to recall to entire Poland that also here warm Polish hearts are beating and remembering the crime of the Stalinist system, said the Polish President.

Back in Kiev, the Presidents spoke about the preparations for the December Ukraine-EU summit and about conviction of the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko which casts a shadow over Kiev-Brussels relations.

- A friend in need is a friend indeed. We wish to be friends of Ukraine; this is why we have also frankly addressed the difficult subjects. In this context, we have raised the case of Yulia Tymoshenko. This is an issue of our concern, especially in the light of the forthcoming Ukraine-EU Summit scheduled for December, stated President Komorowski at the joint press conference with President Yanukovych.

- I would like for this issue to have the possibly slightest impact on Ukraine-EU relations. That being said, there issues of great importance and those of the greatest importance. Undoubtedly, the prospects of Ukraine’s European integrations rank among the most important issues, noted the Polish President.

Bronisław Komorowski pointed out that recently, Ukraine has come closer to the EU. This has been achieved, among others, by running up to the finalization of association negotiations, an important part of which is the Free Trade Agreement. The policy of European integration enjoys support of as much as 65% of Ukrainians.

In the evening, in Kiev, President Komorowski met with Oleksandr Turchynov, former Deputy Prime Minister and also the deputy of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, recently convicted to 7 years in prison, in her Batkovshchyna (Fatherland) party.