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A strong signal of Central European solidarity: Foreign Minister Schallenberg travels to Ukraine with Slavkov colleagues

AUSTRIA, February 6 - Together with his Czech counterpart Jan Lipavský and his Slovak counterpart Ivan Korčok, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will travel to Ukraine from 7th to 8th February. On their first day, the foreign ministers of the Slavkov Declaration will visit the line of contact between the Ukrainian government troops and Russian-backed separatists in the Eastern Ukrainian conflict region of Donbass. On the second day of the trip the trio of foreign ministers will go to Kiev, among other things to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Alexander Schallenberg will also meet bilaterally with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and with representatives of the Crimean Tatars.

We are experiencing massive military tension in Ukraine. But I still believe we have not yet reached the limits of diplomatic dialogue, 

says Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, who hopes to send a strong signal of Central European solidarity through the joint mission of Slavkov ministers.

During a visit to the checkpoint “Stanitsa Luhanska”, which controls crossings from the Ukrainian national territory to the region occupied by pro-Russian separatists near Luhansk, the three foreign ministers will gain an overview of the local humanitarian and military situation. Recently, the pro-Russian separatists have been very restrictive in terms of crossing the line of contact.

It is probably not in the interest of the pro-Russian separatists for people to see the occupied areas and realise what a large development gap has opened between Ukraine and the occupied areas in the last few years,

says Alexander Schallenberg.

During his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Minister Schallenberg plans to emphasisethat there should be no compromise for Austria on Ukraine's sovereignty. . As a result, Austria is prepared to support wide-ranging sanctions, as the Austrian Foreign Minister will reassure representatives of the Ukrainian government.

While Austria is a neutral state in a military sense, we are not neutral towards violence. When it comes to the territorial integrity of a sovereign state, we will never remain silent,but always resolutely stand up for it,

emphasises Foreign Minister Schallenberg.

During the trip, Alexander Schallenberg will also announce that the Council of Ministers is going to approve a disbursement of 2.5 million euros from the Foreign Ministry’s Relief Fund for Disasters Abroad. To address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, one million euros will be provided for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as 1.5 million euros for Austrian NGOs on the ground.

The Slavkov trilateral is an informal cooperation format consisting of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The three-country group was founded in January 2015 in Slavkov (Czech Republic). 

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