I am delighted to welcome the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Riga and the Riga Castle today.
Latvia and Ukraine are bound by strong ties of friendship, support and partnership. Let me express my pleasure about the active political dialogue and practical cooperation across a diverse range of areas between our countries. During the meeting with President Zelenskyy we talked about cooperation in economic, trade, education and other areas. We both agreed that trade between our countries is growing and the trend is positive. I believe that today's meeting is another step towards closer cooperation between our countries.
However, the key focus of our today's meeting was politics. President and I spent a great deal of the meeting discussing foreign policy and security policy issues, and Russian aggression in Ukraine. Latvia's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity remains unwavering. We will continue to support the policy of non-recognition of Crimean occupation. Respect for international law, which we also expect from other countries, is one of the cornerstones of our foreign policy. And Russia has violated international law in this case.
We must continuously demonstrate the international solidarity and support Ukraine in its efforts to stabilise the situation in the region and ensure peace and stability inside Ukraine. Latvia hopes that Normandy format talks will yield progress. Latvia will continue to support sanction policy against Russia until full implementation of Minsk agreements.
Latvia has consistently raised concerns about the implementation of Nord Stream II project and its impact on energy security. We believe that this project contradicts the European Union's (EU) energy security policy and will only increase Europe's dependence on dominant supplier and will have adverse effect on the transit of gas through Ukraine.
We highly appreciate the commitment of the Ukrainian president, government and parliament to implement active reforms that benefit the whole Ukrainian society, strengthen the rule of law and help Ukraine achieve its Euro-Atlantic integration goals in current challenging circumstances.
Today I was also happy to learn from President Zelenskyy that public support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations has significantly increased. It shows that Ukrainian nation has made its geopolitical choice. We welcome their choice and are confident Eastern Partnership is the best instrument for deepening the dialogue between the EU and Ukraine. The current focus should be the implementation of the Association Agreement. Association Agreement and visa-free travel are the most efficient ways of bringing Ukraine closer to the EU, deepen trade relations and promote people-to-people contacts.
Latvia has also offered Ukraine its support and experience in implementing reforms. Latvia welcomes Ukraine's reform efforts aimed at strengthening the rule of law and independence of the judiciary. Ukraine has begun changing its judicial culture, which is extremely difficult and tough to achieve because judicial culture is probably the slowest in terms of absorbing change. These reforms trigger shift of legal paradigms. Such change of mindset is vital and has become an every-day necessity. Latvia has gone through this reform and we know how complex it is and now we are ready to share this experience with Ukraine.
Latvia has also contributed to the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. We have helped it to implement EU standards, train judges and court staff and improve the public relations of the Supreme Court. We are ready to continue the existing cooperation and support judicial reform in Ukraine. No judicial system is ever complete, you can always make good things even better by offering your experience and lessons you have learned. Our Ministry of Justice also works closely with its Ukrainian counterparts and such cooperation should be continued.
In addition, we are currently also sharing our good governance, civic empowerment, rural development and small and medium-size enterprise export support experience with Ukraine. There are also joint projects in education sector. Latvia has currently contributed 15 experts to international civilian missions in Ukraine. We will continue the programme for rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers in Latvia and we will offer the rehabilitation also to political prisoners and sailors who were recently released by Russia.
I believe that today's visit of the President of Ukraine will strengthen our bilateral relations, the already active political dialogue, and will reinforce the impact of joint projects on the reforms implemented by Ukraine. Latvia and the whole Europe needs stable, democratic and economically strong Ukraine.
Thank you!
