“We’re seeking to help actual people who are suffering, as the
situation in Ukraine is complicated,” Lajčák said, as quoted by the TASR
newswire. “We mustn’t lose sight of ordinary people even in national
politics, let alone children who’ve lost their parents as a result of
the conflict.”
As part of the package a symbolic cheque worth
€25,000 was handed over to the chairperson of the Ukraine – Slovakia SOS
charity Hana Švačka. The organisation will use the funds for two
children’s homes, and to build a playground and buy furniture and
hygienic aids.
Two health care facilities in Uzhgorod, near the
Slovak border, are also to benefit from the Slovak assistance. Head of a
regional hospital for infectious diseases Mikhail Polyak received a
grant worth €8,700 that is to be used to buy a high-tech diagnostic tool
called the elisa analyser used in detecting infectious diseases, TASR
wrote.
Meanwhile, head of the city’s obstetrics clinic Oleg Onopko
was presented a cheque for €8,700. The funds will buy medical equipment
used in dealing with high-risk pregnancies and to look after
prematurely born babies.
Apart from granting aid worth close to €3
million to Ukraine since 2014, Slovakia has also received over 140
Ukrainians for rehabilitation programmes in an effort to help them
recover from their mostly mental ailments caused by the conflict there,
as reported by TASR.
Lajčák meanwhile met with Ukrainian Prime
Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Parliamentary Chairman Volodymyr
Groysman. After the meeting, he said that the current situation in
Ukraine is fertile ground for populists, as it is much easier to
criticise a government than support it. As a result, it is complicated
to adopt difficult reform laws against such a backdrop.
A great
deal of attention at the talks was paid to the Minsk peace process and
the need to fulfil it. Lajčák deemed this to be a delicate matter, as it
requires the adoption of difficult laws.
“It’s apparent that both sides are waiting for each other,” said the Slovak official, as quoted by TASR.
Lajčák
and Yatsenyuk also touched on energy, with the former noting that
“Ukraine views the Nord Stream 2 project very sensitively and has a
negative outlook on it, because it’s damaging for the country both in
political and economic terms”.
Despite the fact that many other
issues are now on the front burner in Slovakia, Slovakia is keeping tabs
on developments in Ukraine on a daily basis, said Lajčák.
“It’s
important for us to make sure Ukraine doesn’t vanish from the agenda of
talks at European forums,” he added, as quoted by TASR.
http://spectator.sme.sk/c/20084981/foreign-minister-takes-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine.html
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