“Federal Republic of Germany will continue to support Ukraine on its European path” – the State Minister for Europe of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Michael Roth, stated during the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for European Integration, Olena Zerkal, in Kyiv on June 18th.

Both interlocutors have confirmed the common position on ensuring basic human rights, especially national, ethnic ones and the rights of other minorities, as one of the key areas in the context of commitment to European values. In this regard, Michael Roth highly assessed the Ukrainian State’s efforts to provide security and public order during the Parade of Equality in Kyiv on June 17th. The German high official stressed that Ukraine had sent a strong positive signal to the European community.

Olena Zerkal, from her turn, thanked the German interlocutor for his personal attention to ensuring human rights in the territories occupied by Russia, which was proved by the meeting with representatives of Crimean Tatars. In addition, she urged Germany to continue supporting Ukraine’s efforts to release Ukrainian citizens who are illegally imprisoned by Russia both on its territory and on the occupied territories.

Olena Zerkal also informed her German counterpart about measures taken by the State in securing human rights, including the right of minorities. She stressed that this work as a component of the implementation of European integration course is based on the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

The interlocutors paid attention to the issue of interaction aimed at efficient countering Russian propaganda directed against European values and the split of the European Union. It was stated that the action of such propaganda as an element of the Russian hybrid threat is quite noticeable in the field of cross-national relations. As Olena Zerkal noted, Ukraine has a high level of tolerance to minorities and may be a good example for many EU member countries.

Olena Zerkal and Michael Roth discussed issues of energy security in Europe. The Ukrainian side provided convincing arguments regarding the anti-Ukrainian orientation of the Nord Stream-2 project and called on Germany to cooperate in order to use the Ukrainian transmission system effectively.

During the talks on the political settlement of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in the Donbass region Olena Zerkal outlined Ukrainian vision for the goals and objectives of the future UN peacekeeping mission. It was pointed out that the further coordination and interaction between Ukraine, Germany and France within the framework of the Norman format is important.

The interlocutors gave positive assessment of bilateral cooperation. Olena Zerkal thanked the Government of Germany for practical assistance in implementing systemic reforms. For his part, Michael Roth assured that Berlin will continue to support Ukraine in solving the pressing challenges associated with internal political transformational processes.

The parties also exchanged the ideas on the issues of the European Union development.