The meeting with Ambassador Yaşar Çevik started with the presentation of Poland’s priorities during its OSCE presidency. Ambassador Çevik thanked Poland for donating COVID-19 vaccines to Special Monitoring Mission staff in Donbas.

 Discussed were also the current challenges of the mission, most importantly preventing access to some of the areas beyond the control of the Kyiv government, jamming of radio and electronic communications, and shooting at the mission’s drones. Deputy Minister Przydacz pledged Poland’s further commitment to the mission in the form of manpower and political support. “SMM’s presence in Donbas proves OSCE’s positive engagement in efforts to resolve the conflict. It means that despite generally known challenges to its functioning, the Mission is also very important for the security situation in Europe. Next year, we will take special responsibility for its efficient operations to ensure peace and security in Europe,” said the deputy minister.

Ukraine’s security situation after the NATO summit in June this year was discussed during political consultations with the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar. Much attention was paid to risks posed by the continued construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The two officials jointly considered its possible completion to be a serious threat. They underlined that every effort needs to be taken to prevent the launch of the pipeline. They also discussed current bilateral issues including Polish education in Ukraine.

 The Ukrainian side reaffirmed its willingness to continue negotiations of an intergovernmental agreement on the status of schools with Polish as the language of instruction in Ukraine. The need to make progress on historical issues was also underlined. Deputy Minister Przydacz also drew his interlocutor’s attention to persistent problems of Polish companies operating in Ukraine. “Improving business environment in Ukraine is the key to unfetter the full potential of Ukrainian relations, which are very well developed in terms of politics and security, very intensive as regards efforts to preserve historical memory and truth, yet still untapped – compared to its potential – in their economic dimension. We want Polish entrepreneurs to be actively interested in Ukrainian market but we need the efforts of both sides to achieve this. Both our countries and societies will benefit,” noted the deputy minister.

The agenda also included meeting with the newly appointed deputy head of the President’s Office, in charge of its international affairs, Andrii Sybiha. The officials focused on security issues, Nord Stream 2, and selected bilateral issues. Andrii Sybiha expressed his readiness to continue active top-level bilateral dialogue between Poland and Ukraine in the perspective of the coming Crimean Platform summit in Kyiv on 23 August 2021. “The political dialogue between presidential offices of our countries is extremely important as a platform for the development of middle- and long-term planning of our relations,” the officials agreed. In a conversation with the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Anton Drobovych, the officials discussed current issues in history policy, including the stalemate over issuing exhumation permits by the Ukrainian side.

The following day, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz travelled to the Luhansk Oblast and the line of contact in Donbas. There he met with Poles living in the immediate neighbourhood of the war zone. They pointed out to inequalities in the distribution of aid for Donbas which stem from the priority treatment of towns and villages within five kilometres of the line of contact. “It is touching that so many of you, in such a remote part of Ukraine, so far from Poland, cultivate your Polish roots. Together with other Polish institutions, Polish Embassy and Consulate General in Kharkiv we will support these efforts,” assured them the deputy minister. During talks with Deputy Governor of the Luhansk Oblast Oleksiy Smirnov, the officials discussed current security situation in eastern Ukraine and the region’s development needs. The representative of the local authorities encouraged Polish investors to take an interest in the Luhansk Oblast, emphasising that the security situation in areas controlled by authorities in Kyiv is stable and does not pose additional threat to investments.

While visiting a crossing point on the line of contact in the town of Zolote, during talks with soldiers stationed directly on the front line, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz took the opportunity to reaffirm personally Poland’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and to condemn Russian aggression. The soldiers shared their great concern over the effects of the possible completion of the NS2 pipeline in the context of the potential escalation of military operations. “Poland continues its efforts at the international forum to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine in full respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is a matter that holds strategic importance to the whole Europe,” said the deputy minister. The deputy MFA head also talked with the OSCE observers, including one from Poland, who were present at the crossing point.

Deputy Minister Przydacz visited the shrine of Our Lady of the Scapular in Berdychiv, a centuries-old cultural and spiritual centre of Poles living in Ukraine and Ukrainians who are Roman Catholics. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of declaring the Berdychiv monastic complex by the Ukrainian episcopate the Ukrainian National Sanctuary, Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz took part in a solemn mass, on the day of the annual patronal feast, along with the delegation of Ministers Jarosław Sellin, Jan Dziedziczak, and thousands of pilgrims. The celebrations were led by the Archbishop of Lviv Mieczysław Mokrzycki. While in Berdychiv, the deputy foreign minister met with representatives of the Ukraine’s Roman Catholic episcopate and the Discalced Carmelites who look after the shrine. “The presence of the representatives of Polish authorities during the celebrations in Berdychiv on the one hand, keeps alive the tradition, culture and spirituality of Ukrainian Poles. On the other hand, it is also about building a bridge connecting us with Roman Catholics in Ukraine who fully identify with the Ukrainian national community. It is a beautiful example of creating unity out of different, though close traditions, which are deeply rooted in history,” noted the deputy minister.

Also in Berdychiv, the deputy MFA head visited Ukraine’s only Intelligence Service Training Centre, which the Polish military helped organise, and whose training system they helped develop, along with experts from the US. The deputy minister assured of the readiness to continue the intensive defence cooperation between Poland and Ukraine.

Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz also travelled to Starobilsk, where he laid flowers at the plaque commemorating Polish officers detained by the NKVD in 1940 and those buried at the local cemetery.

 

MFA Press Office