Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman participated on Wednesday in a video conference of EU foreign ministers. The main topics were Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership.
The discussion on Ukraine was held as a follow-up to yesterday's video conference of the informal group of Friends of Ukraine with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who reported on how the new Ukrainian government was dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak and on the situation in the conflict-ridden eastern Ukraine. The ministers discussed a more active role of the EU in helping Ukraine fight the pandemic and implement social and economic reforms. They underlined the EU's commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and agreed to continue with the efforts to reach a comprehensive and peaceful resolution of the conflict and implement the Minsk Protocol. Grlić Radman touched on the bilateral relations between Croatia and Ukraine, highlighting the activities of the Joint Working Group tasked with transferring Croatia's experiences in European integration and peaceful conflict resolution.
The other topic of the conference were the priorities and strengthening of cooperation within the Eastern Partnership policy, which includes six Eastern European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). Due to the circumstances caused by COVID-19, focus will be placed on health care in the period ahead, to which end the European Commission has prepared a €960 million aid package. Grlić Radman underscored Croatia's strong support for the Eastern Partnership initiative, adding that all of the EU's six neighbours should continue receiving assistance in linking with the EU and meeting the European standards.
In addition, the ministers discussed the extremely difficult situation in Libya, agreeing that it was crucial to provide humanitarian aid, as lack thereof could increase migratory pressure and lead to a new wave of pandemic in Europe.