This week saw President Kersti Kaljulaid take her place on the supervisory board of the Yalta European Strategy (YES), Ukraine’s most important foreign-policy platform. Her aim in joining the board is to keep democratic nations and the public focussed on developments in the country.
Democratic and prosperous Ukraine that is corruption-free, follows the rule of law and has an honest business environment is in the interests of Europe.
“How things are progressing in Ukraine has always been important to me,” President Kaljulaid said. “The war that is being fought in the country is not just Ukraine’s war, but a matter for Europe and the democratic world as a whole. We must stand together in the name of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and never accept changes to European borders enacted through military force. We must keep this matter in the public eye; we must not allow it to be forgotten. Ukraine is at war and needs Europe’s support, the same way that a democratic and prosperous Ukraine that is corruption-free, follows the rule of law and has an honest business environment is in the interests of Europe. I championed this during my time as president and I consider it no less important today.”
President Kaljulaid officially joined YES on 1 November and will serve on its supervisory board for the next three years. The board is chaired by former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Its other members are former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger, former Secretary General of NATO and Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Vice President of the Havas Group Stephane Fouks and EastOne Group founder Victor Pinchuk.
YES was established in 2004 and initially convened in Yalta on the Crimean peninsula. In recent years, the forum – which has transformed into the platform’s annual submit – has taken place in Kyiv. It is one of the biggest political conferences in Eastern Europe, involving a range of debates throughout the year in addition to the main event.