Ukraine must win in 2023. That is why it is necessary to continue to help the Ukrainian army with the weapons necessary to obtain an indisputable victory over the aggressor, and not only to conduct counteroffensive operations.
This was emphasized by the head of the National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS”, Hanna Hopko, during a meeting with the State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and senior government representative of the G7 on the restoration of Ukraine, Jochen Flasbarth, who is visiting Ukraine these days.
“We thank the German partners for the weapons provided. It is necessary to continue to support Ukraine and mobilize the world on the way to victory over totalitarianism. It is also worth continuing the sanctions pressure on russia, because this is one of the ways to defeat the aggressor, which has been waging war against the Ukrainian people for the tenth year and has been committing real genocide for more than a year. russia has been using energy as a weapon for years, and Rosatom is one of its resources. That is why it is worth encouraging the international community to introduce tough sanctions against him. Ukraine has proven that it is possible to work without Rosatom and the world should take an example,” said Hanna Hopko.
In addition, Ukrainian society expects that during the NATO summit in Lithuania, Germany, as a strategic partner, will take an ambitious position, and we will receive a political process regarding Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
The leader of “ANTS” also emphasized the importance of working on the issues of restoration of Ukraine, but noted:
“Yes, the issue of rebuilding Ukraine is also on the agenda, but the first thing we need is victory. Ukraine will win in any case, a matter of time and price. Too many lives have already been lost and may be lost if the world delays,” she said.
She also added that in matters of reconstruction, key attention should be paid to the work of the Interdepartmental Donor Coordination Platform to support recovery and reconstruction in Ukraine and to ensure effective control by providing access to registers, inclusion of an equal voice of CSOs in decision-making.
“The donor platform should be about the leadership not only of Ukraine, but also of Germany. It is necessary to work together and ambitiously. It is worth creating an ambitious roadmap for the functioning of the platform. Now it is necessary to develop a scheme of the platform functioning with the inclusion of civil society and regions, to determine reference dates for promotion, and to create a model for assessing effectiveness,” said Hopko. – GIZ’s further support for the decentralization reform and the active role of the regions in reconstruction are also important.”
It is worth noting that Mr. Flasbarth is responsible for financing and support by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of KFW and GIZ projects for the reconstruction of residences and living spaces (including through such organizations as IOM, USIF and the Ukrainian Housing Fund), economic and psychosocial support IDPs.
As part of the visit, he met with representatives of civil society to discuss further steps regarding bilateral cooperation and recovery of Ukraine, cooperation at the community level, public control in the prevention of corruption and transparency in the reconstruction process.
