RIGA - The future of Europe without Ukraine's full membership in the European Union (EU) is no longer imaginable, says Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica (New Unity), Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia.
As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed LETA, the last plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe took place in Strasbourg on Friday and Saturday, at which the work on compiling the recommendations expressed by citizens was completed. The Latvian government was represented by Kalnina-Lukasevica.
The Parliamentary Secretary thanked every European for his and her active involvement and participation in this process, making a valuable contribution to the future debate on the future of Europe. At the same time, she noted that the compiled proposals only partially meet the challenges that Europe has faced since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
She points out that Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine has significantly changed the geopolitical reality. According to the Parliamentary Secretary, Europe must embrace the new reality and respond accordingly.
"Ukraine is not only fighting for its freedom, but also defending Europe's common system of values. Therefore, the final report of the conference must reflect Europe's continued support for Ukraine and make it clear that the future of Europe without Ukraine's full membership is unthinkable," said Kalnina-Lukasevica.
At the end of the conference on May 9, the final report will be presented to the heads of the three EU institutions - the President of the EU Presidency, the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Parliament. The next task of the EU institutions will be to evaluate the collected proposals and decide on the necessary steps for their implementation.
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that the Conference on the Future of Europe has also provided an excellent national impetus to raise EU issues in society and to involve citizens in the debate on the future of Europe. During this time, more than 140 events have taken place in Latvia, ranking among the most active EU countries. As a result, valuable information has been obtained that will be useful in formulating Latvia's future interests in the EU.
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