The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba took part in the 42nd online meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Dmytro Kuleba commended Romania for its successful BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office in 2020 under particularly difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister stated that Ukraine has a clear vision of the prospects for further development of the organization and its adaptation to current challenges and threats. He invited Member States to support the candidacy of Ukraine, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar, for the post of Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat.

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine listed Ukraine's priorities in the BSEC, including strengthening business cooperation, IT development, regional cooperation in the areas of transport, energy, tourism and healthcare.

"Modernization projects, opening up new markets, development of transport infrastructure and other important joint steps will help us to strengthen our economies, ensure the prosperity and stability of the Black Sea region. At the same time, security remains an important element, because it is impossible to guarantee prosperity without security,” he said.

The Minister noted that today the Black Sea region lacks security and trust, which is a direct consequence of Russia's destructive policy, which violates the norms and principles of international law.

“In my statement, I cannot but mention the elephant in the room. It is here, just on the map of the Black Sea. It is called Crimea. And Crimea is Ukraine. I could talk today about Ukrainian peninsula in the context of tourism. But unfortunately because of illegal Russian occupation of Crimea, today we talk about it in the context of security," Dmytro Kuleba stressed.