Foreign Minister Kanerva to visit Ukraine and Moldova

Press release 11/2008
14 January, 2008

The current OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva will visit Ukraine and Moldova on 15-17 January.

On Tuesday and Wednesday in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, Kanerva will meet President Viktor Yushchenko, Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyrya, Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko and Speaker of the Parliament Arseniy Yatseniuk. The discussions during the meetings will concern OSCE affairs, EU-Ukraine relations and other questions of international politics, as well as bilateral issues between Finland and Ukraine.

On his way from Ukraine to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, Kanerva will get acquainted with the operations of the EUBAM Border Assistance Mission established on the border of Ukraine and Moldova, and headquartered in Odessa.

In Moldova, Kanerva will meet President Vladimir Voronin and his colleague, Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan, and Speaker of the Parliament Marian Lupu on Thursday. The key topics of discussion will include questions related to the OSCE activities, such as the Transnistrian conflict and the activities of the organisation’s Mission to Moldova.

At the end of his tour, Kanerva will also visit Tiraspol in Transnistria, where he will have talks with President Igor Smirnov.

Additional information: Press Attaché to the Minister Juha Kirstilä, tel. +358 40 552 8200, Advisor to the Minister Mikko Hautala, tel. +358 40 834 6758, and First Secretary Päivi Peltokoski, tel. +359 40 578 6096