Ukraine and Moldova are planning to resume rail traffic for freight traffic on the Berezino-Bessarabskaya section in autumn 2022.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development of the Republic of Moldova and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine on the development of railway communication was signed on June 23, 2022, according to the website of the Moldovan Ministry.
The document was signed by Vice Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu and Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Alexander Kubrakov.
“Thus, the Republic of Moldova will be able to export / import goods through the port of Izmail, located on the Danube, reducing congestion in the port of Reni. At the same time, through this section of the railway line, Ukraine will be able to export goods to the Republic of Moldova and to the EU countries” , – indicated in the message.
The Berezino-Basarabskaya railway section on the territory of Ukraine was dismantled in 1997, and in 1999 the section between the stations “Rotovo” and “Raukhovka” on the aforementioned line bypassing Odessa was closed.
The construction of the site is expected to be carried out for approximately 23 km. Of these, 1.2 km of the railway will be built on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
FREIGHT TRAFFIC, MOLDOVA, RAILWAY COMMUNICATION, UKRAINE, БЕРЕЗИНО-БЕССАРАБСКАЯ
On June 24, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine’s ambassadors to Georgia, the Slovak Republic, the Portuguese Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Lebanese Republic by a series of decrees.
The relevant decrees No. 439/2022, No. 440/2022, No. 441/2022, No. 442/2022, No. 443/2022 are published on the website of the head of state.
So, Igor Dolgov was dismissed from the post of Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia, Yuriy Mushka was dismissed from the post of Ambassador to Slovakia, Inna Ognivets – the post of Ambassador to Portugal.
Zelensky also fired Serhiy Burdilyaka from the post of Ukrainian ambassador to Iran and Igor Ostash from the post of ambassador to Lebanon.
In 2017, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko appointed Igor Dolgov, former Deputy of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration, to the post of Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia.
In 2016, Poroshenko appointed diplomat Yuriy Mushka as Ambassador of Ukraine to the Slovak Republic, and Igor Ostash as Ambassador to Lebanon.
In 2015, Poroshenko appointed Inna Ognivets as Ambassador of Ukraine to the Portuguese Republic and Serhiy Burdilyak as Ambassador of Ukraine to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The EU will allocate 9 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said.
“This historical moment and the language of today’s conclusions have been rejected for a long time. We have changed this with many countries. Ukraine is at war and has nothing to pay for many public services, so we have approved the allocation of 9 billion euros in aid,” Morawiecki said. on the page of the Office of the Polish Prime Minister on Twitter on Friday.
The leaders of the European Union called on the European Commission to promptly present its proposals for EU support for Ukraine in the reconstruction of the country after the war waged against it by Russia.
The conclusions, adopted at the European Council meeting on Thursday in Brussels, noted that the European Commission “soon will submit a proposal to provide Ukraine with a new exceptional macro-financial assistance of up to 9 billion euros in 2022.”
“The European Council calls on the Commission to promptly present its proposals for EU support for the reconstruction of Ukraine, in consultation with international partners, organizations and experts,” the document reads.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that granting the status of EU candidate countries to Ukraine and Moldova is a political signal in these circumstances, the entry itself will drag on for years.
“With regard to Moldova and Ukraine, it is quite clear that this (the decision of the European Candidates’ Status Council) is contextual. Yes, this is a political signal. I fully recognize this. And I said quite frankly today that it will take time (… ) that it will last for years,” Macron said Thursday evening at a press conference in Brussels after the decision of the European Council to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.
According to him, this decision is justified by the fact that we are talking about the neighboring environment of the European Union, which needs to be stabilized. Today, the “geopolitical response” in the context of hostilities is to provide such a perspective to these countries, the French president believes.
“Is this a good geopolitical prospect in the long run? I will answer you sincerely (…): no,” Macron continued, referring to the “fatigue phenomenon” of joining the European Union, which is a complex and time-consuming process. “The road is long,” he said.
That is why, the president explained, he proposed the initiative of the “European political community”, which he considers the right answer, in order to “stabilize the neighborhood” of the EU, offering close cooperation to European countries that are not members of the European Union, having different standards and situations, but sharing common values. .
And this is just being discussed at this EU summit, Macron said. “We need to build something: we can cooperate in terms of defense, geopolitics, energy, infrastructure, projects for the movement of people – a lot of specific things that will make it possible to change the lives of citizens (…) and build the wider geopolitical Europe that we need” – said the head of the French state.
But at the moment, Macron believes, “after NATO said “no” to Ukraine’s accession for good reasons, we would make a political mistake and leave a void if we didn’t reach out to Ukraine and Moldova.” And this justifies the recognition of the status of candidates for these two countries, the French president explained.
The European Council has published the conclusions of the meeting regarding granting Ukraine the status of a candidate member of the European Union.
“The European Council recognizes the European perspective of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The future of these countries and their citizens lies in the European Union. The European Council has decided to grant the status of a candidate country to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova,” says the third section of the conclusions entitled “Application for membership of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia”.
The conclusions note that the European Commission is requested to report to the Council on “the fulfillment of the conditions specified in the Commission’s opinions on relevant applications for membership under its regular enlargement package”. “The Council will decide on further steps once all these conditions are fully met,” the document says.
With regard to Georgia, it is stated that the European Council is “ready to grant the status of a candidate country to Georgia after the priorities indicated in the Commission’s opinion on Georgia’s application for membership are resolved.”
“Each country’s progress towards the European Union will depend on its own merit in meeting the Copenhagen criteria, including the EU’s ability to admit new members,” the conclusions said.
