Igor Klymenko: Slovakia is an unconditional friend of Ukraine and we highly appreciate this support
This was emphasized by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine today, May 5, during a meeting with the delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia headed by the head of the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs Roman Mikulets.
The Ukrainian delegation also included Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Vasyl Teteria, Head of the State Border Service Serhiy Deineko, Head of the State Migration Service Natalia Naumenko and Acting Head of the National Police Ivan Vyhivskyi.
At the beginning of the meeting, Igor Klymenko thanked the partners from Slovakia for their comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion, in particular in the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees:
“The first battle was taken by border guards from the side of the Republic of Belarus, the occupiers headed towards Kiev through Chernobyl. Then there was the stage of evacuation of people from the territory of Kiev and other regions of Ukraine. Three million people were traveling outside our country around the clock. And every country of the European Union, including Slovakia, has opened its borders to Ukrainians. More than 114,000 of our citizens have found temporary shelter in Slovakia. We appreciate that support.”
In Bratislava, there is a representative office of SE “Dokument” for Ukrainian citizens. In order to speed up and strengthen the safety of transportation of manufactured documents to foreign front offices, the heads of ministries reached agreements on the issue of accelerated passage of special cargo across the Ukrainian-Slovak border.
Igor Klymenko also told the delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia that despite the fighting Ukraine continues to document war crimes committed by the Russian army. According to the Head of the Ukrainian Department, the National Police alone recorded more than 75 thousand such crimes. However, there is a problem that Ukraine cannot cope with without international partners — it is a mine hazard.
“Today there is a big problem in the demining of Ukraine. If we take into account the occupied territories, currently 174 thousand square kilometers have been mined in Ukraine. And this is work for about 10 years. Mechanized mining machines could accelerate this process. Now we use such special equipment of Croatian production. But we expect to get efficient mining machines that will be produced in Slovakia,” said Igor Klymenko.
The Minister of Internal Affairs stressed that at the moment about 20% of the territory of Ukraine is under Russian occupation. In addition, Ukraine has 2,295 kilometers of the length of the border with the Russian Federation, which creates additional risks:
“Imagine how many troops it takes to hold these lines. Therefore, we have border guards, national guards and policemen on the line of battle. Every day, Ukraine records more than 200 shelling of critical and civilian infrastructure from the Russian side. Even the de-occupied territories of Ukraine, the enemy continues to fire. Therefore, we must evenly distribute the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine along the border in order to protect the population.
In turn, the delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Slovakia, headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the country Roman Mikulets, expressed words of support for Ukraine. In particular, the Head of the Interior stressed that he has great respect for the entire people of Ukraine, which continues to fight the aggressor.
“I never even imagined that something like this could happen in the 21st century, that there would be a war in Ukraine. I am sincerely grateful to our citizens for helping your country against the background of the Russian invasion. I have great respect for your people. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, we have helped Ukraine not only with military equipment, but also by supporting Ukrainian refugees who were forced to leave the country due to Russian attacks,” Roman Mikulets said.
The meeting was also attended by the Head of the State Border Service of Ukraine Serhiy Deineko. According to him, despite the small length of the border with Slovakia, the country constantly supports Ukraine against the background of the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine has the smallest part of the border with Slovakia. But this is a very serious boundary - trust and tranquility. Ukraine has one of the best relations with Slovak counterparts,” Serhiy Deineko said.
He also stressed that the introduction of a joint contact point would significantly speed up the process of responding to the challenges facing the border guards of both Ukraine and Slovakia.
At the end of the meeting, the delegations expressed mutual appreciation for the constructive dialogue and hope for further effective and effective cooperation. In particular, the Minister of Defense of Slovakia invited his Ukrainian counterpart Igor Klymenko to the Globsec International Conference in May.
“These are extraordinary measures in the field of security. Therefore, I personally invite you to Bratislava to participate in this event. We wish you that the fighting will end as soon as possible. We will do everything to help you,” the Slovak Minister of Internal Affairs summed up.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
