Italy will assist Ukraine in post-war reconstruction, in particular with humanitarian demining
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio announced Italy's involvement in the restoration of Ukrainian territories today during a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky. The heads of the two departments co-chair the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation. The aid package will include, in particular, 2 million euros for humanitarian demining in the de-occupied territories.
During the meeting, Denis Monastyrsky stressed that Italy is not only one of the main trade and economic partners of Ukraine in Europe, but also a sincere friend of our country. He thanked Luigi Di Maio for his personal position on Ukraine, which was marked by his withdrawal from the Five Star Movement party due to the fundamental intention of further consolidating the efforts of the Italian Government to support Ukraine and adhere to the unified EU policy. The Minister of the Interior invited Italy to participate in the projects of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
For his part, Luigi Di Mai recalled that 2021 was a record year in economic cooperation between Italy and Ukraine. He also suggested that 2022 would be even better if it were not for Russia's war against Ukraine.
“We, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, have signed an agreement with the Italian city councils. Many Italian large and small cities have signed memoranda of cooperation with Ukrainian cities. It is a fraternity between cities that was born either before or during the war. And we want to use this channel to work towards the recovery of Ukraine. Starting today, Italy, both at the highest state level and at the local levels, will be able to join Ukraine's reconstruction projects. As part of this project, we decided to provide 2 million euros, which will be sent for humanitarian demining,” the Italian foreign minister said.
He also clarified that Italy will be able to transfer part of the equipment for demining to Ukrainian rescuers in the near future.
In addition, the parties discussed the acceleration of the ratification of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Ukrainian-Italian Police Cooperation signed last June.
Denis Monastyrsky also expressed his gratitude to the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs and his colleague, Ms. Luchana Lamorgese, for welcoming family members of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Milan, who are involved in repelling Russian aggression. 88 people arrived in Milan on April 26. Currently, most family members continue their stay in the territory of the Italian Republic.
Recall that the last meeting of the Bilateral Council on Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation outlined the prospects for a number of powerful and ambitious projects, such as, in particular, the construction of a high-speed railway branch, as well as joint plans in the space, agro-industrial sectors, shipbuilding. Unfortunately, the war was in the way.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
