The meeting was held on 3 February 2021 as part of Oleksii Reznikov’s visit to Poland, during which he met with Polish politicians, including Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Małgorzata Gosiewska, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Technology Jarosław Gowin, and Minister of Finance Tadeusz Kościński. The foreign ministers’ talks were an opportunity to exchange views in the context of preparations for the Polish chairmanship of the OSCE, the current situation along the contact line in Donbas, as well as the progress of political talks on the settlement of the conflict, held within the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group under the auspices of the OSCE and as part of the Normandy Format. Minister Rau also spoke about education in the Polish language in Ukraine and challenges relating to historical policy.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Reznikov, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, presented the state of play of talks as well as plans for the coming year. He discussed both political challenges related to the process of conflict settlement and urgent humanitarian issues, including a full exchange of detainees, establishing additional so-called demilitarised zones in the area of the contact line, and opening new crossing points. Minister Rau stressed that conflicts in Eastern Europe – particularly Russia’s aggression in Donbas – will be the key theme of Poland’s OSCE chairmanship in 2022. He stated that it is necessary to oppose the trend to turn the situation in eastern Ukraine into a “frozen” conflict. He also expressed Poland’s readiness to take active measures in this respect.

Minister Rau underlined the advantages of Ukraine’s involvement in regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, drawing attention to the benefits offered by the Lublin Triangle in this context. He advocated the continuation and deepening of pro-European reforms in Ukraine, which can convince the public opinion and political circles in Western Europe to change their so far sceptical attitude to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. “We also were in a situation where others explained to us what to do to obtain the prospect of accession to the EU. We know that it does not always feel comfortable, which is why it is so important that the stimulus for reforms should come from within, from Ukraine’s society and political elites,” he said. Deputy Prime Minister Reznikov expressed Ukraine’s interest in obtaining the status of a partner state within the Three Seas Initiative.

Minister Rau also raised the issue of education in the Polish language in Ukraine, recalling the importance of provisions of the declaration that Poland’s and Ukraine’s presidents signed on 12 October 2020. According to the declaration, the existing rules for teaching in the Polish language in Ukraine should be retained. The head of Polish diplomacy expressed his hope that it would be possible to swiftly agree on the text of a new intergovernmental agreement which would regulate this issue. He added that he expected difficult historical issues to be settled through dialogue between both countries’ relevant institutions.

 

MFA Press Office 

 

Photo: Tymon Markowski / MFA
Video: Gabriel Piętka / MFA