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Chief Executive of The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide visited Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

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Published on Wednesday, 26 September 2018 12:36

This visit was a part of the Minister’s 3-days trip to Ukraine. At Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Mrs. Eriksen Søreide gave a lecture International Politics in Norway: The Global European Point of View.

The lecture started with short historical introduction and the main part was primarily dedicated to the close cooperation our countries – Ukraine and Norway – are developing now in such spheres as education, energy policy and business investments, as well as to the connections between our citizens on personal level the number of which is growing.

Answering one of the students’ questions Mrs. Minister said that she does not wish to provide Ukrainian government with a ready-to-use receipt of joining EU because each state and each nation has to build their own way by themselves. The example of Norway shows that the association with EU gives some definite important advantages, first of all it has to do this common human values, human rights and the basic principles of democracy.

Ine Eriksen Søreide also made a special emphases on the reforms Ukraine is currently going through – she claimed that these reforms should certainly be actively continuing, and that Norway is ready to support out state on this way. The other crucial aspect Mrs. Minister payed much attention to is the War in Donbas region – Norway is an important partner in Ukrainian defense mission, and Mrs. Eriksen Søreide has visited the front line during her trip so as to remind the people of her country about it.

The vist ended by the exchange of symbolic gifts: the Kyiv-Mohyla President Andrii Meleshevych presented Mrs. Minister with a coin dedicated to the 400th Anniversary of the Academy, and she donated a book about Norwegian fjords to the Kyiv-Mohyla Library.

Photos from the event can be found here.