On 18 August 2022, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, met with the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Refugees, Lord Richard Harrington. The officials discussed support for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as support for Ukraine’s reconstruction focusing on the urgency of meeting people’s immediate needs ahead of the winter period.
Latvia has been assisting Ukraine in all possible ways – political, military and humanitarian. In that context, the Parliamentary Secretary underlined that “Latvia is among the major donors if measured against the country’s gross domestic product. Our assistance to Ukraine amounts to 0,80% of our GDP”.
Referring to the refugee crisis triggered by Russia’s war of aggression, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica said that Latvia was providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, making contributions to international organisations, adjusting development cooperation priorities, and planning future involvement in the process of reconstruction of Ukraine.
The Parliamentary Secretary noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in association with businesses and civil society had been providing support for internally displaced persons in Ukraine from the very first days of the war: “With Latvia’s support, a rehabilitation centre has been established in Ivano-Frankivsk for women victims of sexual violence, and psychosocial consultations have been provided to women in the east of Ukraine.”
The recovery of Ukraine’s labour market is supported through development cooperation instruments in order to ensure the professional requalification of Ukrainian employees under wartime conditions and the reforms of Ukraine’s justice system to bring it in line with the European Union standards.
The two officials were in agreement that humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian refugees and IDPs was of utmost importance. Provision of support to Ukraine’s neighbours receiving refugees and the protection of the rights, health and dignity of Ukrainian women affected by the war must not be forgotten either.
During the conversation, the Parliamentary Secretary also described the measures implemented in Latvia in support of Ukrainian citizens and their family members who have been forced to leave Ukraine