President Lennart Meri received Boris Tarasyuk, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the republic of Ukraine, this afternoon in Kadriorg. The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered the greetings of Leonid Kutchma, the President of Ukraine, and his congratulations on the nomination of the European of the Year 1998 to President Meri.

On the meeting, the relations between the two countries and the co-operation between the Baltic Sea states and the Black Sea states was discussed. The President emphasised that he has, on all his meetings with the Western leaders, underlined that Ukraine is an important part of the whole of the European countries and that he would do the same in the future. “It is in the interests of Ukraine to grasp every opportunity for integration with the European structures,” the President said, and also mentioned the role of national identity and culture in this process. As President Meri said, Ukraine could communicate with Turkey across the Black Sea, just as Estonia and Sweden are communicating on the opposite coasts of the Baltic Sea.

Foreign Minister Tarasyuk thanked President Lennart Meri for the idea of the meeting of the Presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine held in Tallinn in spring 1997, and said that Ukraine is organising the multilateral meeting that is to take place in Yalta in autumn 1999.

The Estonian President and the Foreign Minister of Ukraine also spoke of the Riigikogu elections in Estonia and the situation preceding this year’s presidential elections in Ukraine.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, January 21, 1999

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