Slovakia wants to explore possibility of increasing gas transit to Ukraine – Slovak FM

Slovakia intends to study the possibility of increasing gas transit to Ukraine, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok has said.

He said at a joint press conference of the ministers of foreign affairs of Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Austria in Kyiv that he is pleased to inform the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine that last week the operator of gas transit systems in Slovakia temporarily doubled gas transit to Ukraine. Slovakia is ready to analyze the possibility of commercial viability of this project in the future, he said.

Korčok added that Austria recently supported the provision of $1.2 billion of macroeconomic assistance to Ukraine, and is also ready to implement a project to build an emergency medical station in the village of Stanytsia Luhanska (Luhansk region).

According to the Slovak foreign minister, the pro-European choice of Ukraine cannot be a threat to third countries, in particular, the Russian Federation.

He said that Ukraine has a free choice regarding the western direction, and this does not threaten anyone. It is absolutely not logical that the free choice of one democratic country is considered a threat to other countries, he said.

Regarding the principles of the indivisibility of security, which is at the center of the discussion, he added that this principle cannot contradict the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and this leads to the fact that we maintain a dialogue with the Russian Federation. He said that we need an open dialogue.

He also said that the receipt of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) by Ukraine requires a consensus on the part of NATO member countries.

The Bucharest decision made in 2008, which says that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO, does not change, but it is a long way to go and we need a consensus for the NATO Action Plan. We need to work on it and he said that he thinks that Ukraine has done a lot, this is the preparatory work, Korčok said.

He said that he does not understand the argument that Ukraine's desire to become a NATO member is a threat to Russia, because back in 2014, when Crimea was annexed and when the war in Donbas began, it had nothing to do with Ukrainian aspirations to become a NATO member.

In turn, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said at the press conference that security in Ukraine is security for European countries.

The territorial integrity of Ukraine is an integral part of the European security architecture. We must reiterate that the annexation of Crimea was an illegal act, he said. Crimea is Ukraine, and this must be repeated constantly, he said.

Lipavský also said that the Czech Republic is a partner of Ukraine, providing Ukraine with humanitarian aid, artillery and ammunition.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua