Cooperation in protecting the eastern border of the European Union, streamlining border traffic at crossings with Ukraine and strengthening the Eastern Partnership - these are some of the issues raised today in Podkarpacie by Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński and the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag Urban Ahlin. The politicians' visit preceded the 4th Polish-Swedish Forum - a meeting of parliamentarians from both countries - which will take place on Tuesday, 29 November in the Sejm.
The Speaker of the Sejm and the Head of the Swedish Parliament had the opportunity to learn about the functioning of the Polish-Ukrainian border crossing in Medyka and the Border Guard post in Huwniki, including the infrastructure and equipment used by the border guards. They also visited the site of the planned construction of another border crossing with Ukraine - in Malhowice-Nizankowice, as well as the headquarters of the Bieszczady Border Guard Unit.
During the visit to Podkarpacie, the Speaker of the Sejm and the President of the Swedish Riksdag also visited the Franciscan Monastery in Kalwaria Pacławska.
Summing up today's visit in a conversation with the media, the Speaker of the Sejm indicated its goals: to visit the Schengen (Polish-Ukrainian) border, to become familiar with the problems and to hold preliminary talks on facilitating the movement of people and goods across this border. Marek Kuchcinski also spoke about the role of parliaments in encouraging everyone not only on both sides of the Polish-Ukrainian border, but also in the entire European Union, to support Ukraine's European choice, which was made several years ago.
Marek Kuchciński emphasized that today's visit was a prelude to the Polish-Swedish Forum in Warsaw, and that the issue of the security of the EU's eastern border is part of the subject matter of Tuesday's session at the Sejm. - Europe's south and east are forcing the search for a recipe to strengthen the security of people across the continent - The Speaker of the Sejm remarked. As he said, the meeting at the Sejm will also be an opportunity to reflect on ways of strengthening the Eastern Partnership, which has been experiencing crises in recent years and requires new inspiration. In this context, he stressed the growing importance of parliamentary diplomacy. - Hence the idea that before the Polish-Swedish Forum the President of the Riksdag should come to the Polish-Ukrainian border to see what the challenges are, for example increasing the number of border crossings - explained the Speaker of the Sejm.
Cooperation in the field of border and boundary control was also mentioned as a goal of the visit in Podkarpackie by the head of the Swedish Parliament Urban Ahlin. He stressed that he has always been interested in this part of Europe in his activities. - I am impressed by the professionalism of the Polish Border Guard and the infrastructure it uses. I like the approach of the Polish services very much - the border is not there to stop border traffic, but to facilitate its crossing for authorized persons - He emphasized. The President of the Riksdag also referred to the activities of the Eastern Partnership, the Polish-Swedish initiative to bring the countries neighbouring the EU closer to Europe. According to Urban Ahlin more intensive actions and greater presence in Brussels are needed to increase interest in the Partnership. He added that during his talks with the Speaker of the Sejm he raised the issue of actions that should be taken in order to strengthen the implementation of the Eastern Partnership values, e.g. introduction of visa-free travel with Ukraine.
Riksdag President on visit to Poland:
