Poland and Ukraine are seeking closer cooperation, with plans to work together on various projects. This week was an important milestone, with the head of Poland’s Ministry of Finance and Development visiting Kyiv this week for the 4th annual International Summit of Cities and Regions.
The gathering was opened by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and focused on knowledge sharing between the two countries.
“As Poland, we want to discuss cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian regions. We are sharing all our know-how when it comes to investing European funds. Poland is excellent at this, and Ukraine wants to learn from it. Conversely, we want to take all the knowledge from the Ukrainian side, which is currently building the resilience of its regions. For example, it is very effective in expanding shelters,” the minister of funds and regional policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, said at a press briefing, as quoted by Do Rzeczy.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz spoke with, among others, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Integration with the EU and NATO Taras Kaczka, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba, and Mayor of Bucha Anatoly Fedoruk.
One important future project — and use of EU funds — will be the reconstruction of Ukraine, which Polish companies will be involved with, working together with representatives of Ukraine’s state and local governments.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz also focused on the need for Poland to focus on its own shelter system. She emphasized that during her visit to Bucza, she saw a shelter set up at a school, with an energy-sufficient “duplicate” of the school built in its basement.
“These are practical examples for us, which we will have to and want to transfer to Poland for safety reasons,” she announced.
As she explained, local governments are embarking on a major project to build shelters for Poles.
“We are looking at Ukrainian investments in shelters because Ukraine’s vast experience is what Polish local governments need,” she added.
She announced that, as part of the KPO, Poland has created a Security and Defense Fund with a budget of over PLN 22 billion (€5.2 billion). It includes significant funds for the construction of shelters for people across the country.
The focus of Poland on helping Ukraine, not a member of the EU, spend its money from Brussels is a bit odd, as Hungary, a full member state, even under Brussels’ desired leader, Péter Magyar, seems still unable to unfreeze the billions of euros it is due.
Zelensky, however, may prove an ongoing thorn in Hungary’s side, as he is pushing for Brussels to force Magyar to lift the re-imposed ban on a slew of Ukrainian agricultural products.
