18:15 21 June 2022
Ukraine with special status in the 3SI
Presidents of the 12 Central European countries members of the Trimarium initiative (3SI) yesterday granted Ukraine the special status of a participating partner in this format. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski declared at the Riga Summit his country's readiness for membership in the initiative.
In addition to the heads of state of the 3SI, the meeting was attended by the partners of this format: representatives of the U.S., Germany, Japan, and the European Commission. Speakers on the panel included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who participated remotely.
"We came to a unanimous conclusion that we stand by Ukraine, we will stand by it, and we will support its struggle for its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and freedom," Egils Levits, Latvian president and host of the summit, announced.
In doing so, he stressed that Ukraine is fighting in the name of values – the same values we can call our values.
"Europe is not complete without Ukraine. That is why we strongly support granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate country. We want to involve Ukraine more closely in the Trilateral cooperation," he assured.
