As part of the PASS Ukraine project, Ukrainian MPs Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Mariia Ionova and Yehor Cherniev visited Canada to strengthen ties with Canadian parliamentarians.
Canada is an important partner of Ukraine, whose role and support has grown significantly since the start of the full-scale invasion. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain a dialogue and share views on how exactly Canadian support to Ukraine can be kept and aligned with today’s needs. The cooperation of the Verkhovna Rada with the parliaments of other countries plays a particularly meaningful role in this area for the purpose of telling our partners the truth at the highest level, convincing them of the importance of supporting Ukraine and preventing the crimes that Russia commits against the Ukrainian people from being ignored.
During the visit, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze and Mariia Ionova already met with members of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group to tell about the development of the situation in Ukraine and specific steps being taken by the Parliament for non-military resistance to the Russian aggression. The parliamentarians also had the opportunity to talk with the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, the Honourable Anthony Roth, and the Canada’s Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Jacqueline O’Neill.
Russia’s aggression can be a threat to the whole world even after Ukraine’s victory in this war. That is why Ukraine is now looking for ways to strengthen the country’s defence capabilities and create conditions for stability and security when the war is in place and after it’s over.
One of these ways is Ukraine’s accession to NATO, which Ukrainian officials are talking about with the international community at all levels. Last week, as part of the PASS Ukraine project, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Ukrainian MP Yehor Cherniev discussed the security and defence agenda with Canadian counterparts.
Strengthening inter-parliamentary ties allows Ukraine to mould powerful lobbying groups in Western parliaments and to seek an increase in military, financial and humanitarian aid to us. For this, Ukrainian MPs and civil society are doing their utmost.
The Agency for Legislative Initiatives will have continued cooperation with Canadian partners to help with reforms and refine the dialogue between the Parliaments of Ukraine and Canada.
The Ukrainian MPs’ visit to Canada took place as part of the Parliamentary Accountability of the Security Sector in Ukraine (PASS Ukraine) project, a joint project of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives and the Parliamentary Centre (Canada), which is being implemented with the support of the Ministry of International Affairs of Canada and the Peace and Stabilization Operations Programme (PSOPs) in partnership with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
