CANADIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ISSUES A FRIENDLY CHALLENGE TO THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE
Ottawa – With his speech leading off the Debates on the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement in the House of Commons on February 7, MP Wrzesnewskyj issued a friendly challenge to the Speaker of Ukraine’s parliament Parubiy and his colleagues in the Verkhovna Rada, the Parliament of Ukraine, as to which parliament will pass the Canada – Ukraine Free Trade Agreement first.
On February 14, Bill C-31 was successfully passed by the Canadian House of Commons at Third Reading. Meanwhile, the Minister of Economic Development of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv expects the Verkhovna Rada to follow the Canadian lead within the next few weeks.
In his speech and during subsequent debates, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj emphasized the significance of the long standing, “special relationship” between our two countries, further enhanced by the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA): “CUFTA is but one effective tool in a policy kit to strengthen democracy in Ukraine and to contain Putin’s plan to create a democratic failed state of Ukraine”.
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MP Wrzesnewskyj expressed his personal dedication to ensure, that Canada will continue and expand its current military training mission Unifier in Ukraine. “Today, Russia poses the greatest geopolitical threat to liberal democracy in the West. Ukraine and her people are literally on the front line” – he said in his speech. Answering a question from a fellow MP, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj added: “The Minister of National Defence last week signalled that the odds are that this training mission (Project Unifier) will be extended. My personal hope is that it will be expanded.”
The Kremlin military aggression has already claimed more than 10 thousand Ukrainian lives. Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine remain under Russian occupation. Regular and at times intense exchanges of fire continue in the Luhansk and Donetsk areas of Ukraine.
