They declared their willingness to deepen parliamentary cooperation between the four countries in response to geopolitical threats in order to further support Ukraine on the agenda of international meetings.
The Speakers underlined in the Joint Declaration that the present geopolitical situation, further complicated by Russia’s imperialist pursuits in the post-Soviet area, constituted a major challenge to the European security system as well as a test of international solidarity and cooperation.
“Our countries present a very similar stance on fundamental issues pertaining to the construction of security in Europe as well as on the measures to be taken towards Russia. We continuously call for a strong and consistent sanctions policy, for political, military, humanitarian and economic support of Ukraine and for strengthening international efforts to end the conflict,” they said.
The Baltic and Polish Speakers attach great importance to the development of parliamentary diplomacy as a very valuable tool for implementing the foreign policy of their countries. “Therefore, we declare our readiness and willingness to deepen parliamentary cooperation between our countries at various levels: parliamentary bureaux, sectoral committees and parliamentary groups,” they said, adding that further strengthening of the parliamentary dimension of the Three Seas Initiative and the Crimean Platform would have a great potential in developing a strong voice of the parliaments.
“We strive to collectively influence the international community in order to keep the need to further support Ukraine, whose stability provides a crucial guarantee of security for Europe on the agenda,” the Speakers emphasised. “We will seek close cooperation in international parliamentary assemblies and organisations to ensure their effectiveness and respect for international law and international agreements.”
The Joint Declaration is signed by Jüri Ratas of the Parliament of Estonia, Edvards Smiltēns from the Parliament of Latvia, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen from the Parliament of Lithuania and Elżbieta Witek from the Parliament of Poland.
The text of the Joint Declaration is available here in English.
