Poland will work consistently towards fulfilling the promise enshrined in the Charter to build a genuinely new Europe. Poland calls upon all signatories of the Charter to live up to their commitments.

In my talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, Leonid Kravchuk, head of the Ukrainian delegation at the Trilateral Contact Group, and  Oleksii Reznikov, Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, we discussed the threats to peace in Europe posed by the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, now in its final construction stages, and by the escalating security situation in Ukraine’s east and south.

We see clearly that this project allows synchronization of pressure—political, economic, and military. This pipeline, if completed, will create a state of clear and present danger to peace in Europe.

We agreed that the massing of troops along Ukraine’s eastern border and in the occupied territory of Crimea we are witnessing in recent days should be taken into account when shaping and conducting policy of non-recognition of the annexation of Crimea and violations of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Depending on the course of events, Ukraine’s partners should be prepared to have a serious debate on the scope and criteria of selective cooperation with states that are in breach of fundamental norms of international law.

January next year Poland will take over the chairmanship of the OSCE and will represent all participating States which are interested in shaping a new Europe and effective implementation of the principles of the Paris Charter and the Helsinki Final Act and which advocate peaceful resolution of conflicts, avoidance of unilateral use of force or the threat of its use, inviolability of borders, and the sovereign right of every nation to freely choose alliances and its model of development.

I would like to thank my interlocutors today for confirming Ukraine’s willingness to cooperate with Poland in strengthening peace and cooperation in Europe and to jointly counter attempts to influence the policy of European countries by means of pressure, using both military and economic means.”

MFA Press Office

Photo: Sebastian Indra / MFA