On Thursday, 25 January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis arrived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is the 8th visit of Lithuania’s Foreign Minister to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s brutal war. The head of Lithuania’s diplomacy will meet with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other officials.
“We see that 2024 can be a crucial year for the war in Ukraine. And to a large extent, it depends on us. If Ukraine receives the necessary support from the West, its position in the war and the chances of victory will be greater. But more complex scenarios are also possible. The beginning of the year is a good opportunity to discuss how to work together on successful scenarios that will determine the future of Ukraine and Europe as a whole. I will talk about this first with my Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba,” Lithuania’s Foreign Minister said.
Landsbergis will also participate in signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the EU Delegation to Ukraine and the Lithuanian Central Project Management Agency on cooperation in the implementation of the EU-funded project that aims to build new shelters in Ukrainian schools. The European Union has allocated EUR 15 million to construct new school shelters in Ukraine. Lithuania will contribute an additional EUR 0.5 million and assume the responsibility for implementing the project.
On 25 January in Kyiv, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis participated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the EU Delegation to Ukraine and the Lithuanian Central Project Management Agency on cooperation in the implementation of the EU-funded project that aims to build new shelters in Ukrainian schools.
“There should be no bomb shelters at schools because children must never be targeted. Attacks on children are terrorism. Therefore, I believe that shelters are a temporary refugees until Ukraine wins. The victory will come. Russia’s brutal attacks on civilians are an attempt to destroy the will of Ukrainians to resist. However, Ukraine has repeatedly proved that there is no lack of will to resist the aggressor. And the West must understand the importance of military support and civil protection funding for Ukraine,” Landsbergis said.
Ukraine’s Minister of Education Oksen Lisovyi attended the event and thanked the EU and Lithuania for their assistance.
The Lithuanian Government has already funded implementing a mobile settlement project in Borodyanka, where the first new shelter in Ukraine has been built since the beginning of the invasion.
According to Landsbergis, the reconstruction projects financed by Lithuania have always aimed to fund the most sensitive and priority programmes and create an example to follow. Therefore, according to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, this EUDEL programme is an example of how Lithuania’s development cooperation project can be further developed with funds from other donors.
