The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, announced on Wednesday, June 1 that Polish-Ukrainian intergovernmental consultations in a wide format will be conducted. Among other things, both countries will conclude an agreement on good neighbourliness and will carry out consultations at the initiative of the Polish government and President Andrzej Duda.
This information was confirmed on Twitter by the spokesman of the Polish government, Piotr Müller, who wrote: “Today Polish-Ukrainian intergovernmental consultations will take place in Kyiv. Poland is the first country since Russia’s February invasion to meet the Ukrainian government in this way”.
“Representatives of the two governments will talk about various issues and sign documents”, said Szmyhal. Later in the conversation, the Ukrainian prime minister revealed that the governments of both countries would hold joint consultations on the opening of borders and Ukraine’s entry into the EU customs territory.
The key directions will be to improve the cooperation of border services, as well as procedures related to common customs control in terms of border crossing. “This mainly concerns the transit of goods through Poland to Ukraine and from Ukraine, as well as other issues, including diplomatic cooperation and Poland’s support for Ukraine’s efforts to join the European Union”, added Shmyhal.
Thanking the Poles for accepting “millions of Ukrainian refugees”, he said that the Polish attitude could be the starting point for accepting an agreement on cooperation in education and medicine.
According to information from the Border Guard, 3.75 million people have crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland since the beginning of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which is from February 24. The Polish authorities estimate that over 1.5 million Ukrainians are staying in Poland.
A few days ago, Deputy Minister of Education and Science Tomasz Rzymkowski informed that 195,000 Ukrainian children study in the Polish education system, and Poland is prepared to provide education for twice as many children from Ukraine.
Adrian Andrzejewski