Polish lawmakers on rebuilding Ukraine: "Poland knows how, wants greater involvement"

They spoke about this at the Via Carpatia 2024 forum on Espreso TV.

"Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Poland has been a leader in supporting Ukraine, both militarily and humanitarianly. Over the past 2.5 years, Poland has allocated nearly 5% of its GDP to help Ukraine. In comparison, the United States has contributed less than 0.5% of its GDP, which is ten times less than Poland's commitment. At the same time, we want to see stronger economic cooperation and a more active role for Poland in Ukraine's reconstruction, especially in energy and logistics. We would like to see Polish partners involved in rebuilding roads and infrastructure. Poland has the experience to do this, as we've carried out a major investment program over the past two years using European funds," said Marcin Bosacki.

According to him, European funds are already starting to flow into Ukraine, and the amount will increase as Ukraine becomes an EU member. Poland has experience in functioning and utilizing such aid funds. The Polish Business Association and Polish entrepreneurs are eager to cooperate more with Ukraine.

Lawyer Marcin Dudarski spoke about an investment project to build an intermodal dry port near the Ukrainian border with the involvement of Polish businesses and South Korean partners: "The center we are currently creating at the border will serve to strengthen logistics capabilities for Ukraine's reconstruction. Active work is also underway on two projects in the food industry, with mergers between Ukrainian and Polish companies. All the projects we are discussing now will contribute to the real reconstruction of Ukraine."

Member of the Polish Sejm, Jacek Karnowski, noted that he had been the mayor of the Polish city of Sopot for 25 years and participated in Poland's EU accession process, so he clearly remembers both the negotiations and the integration.

"And I also remember all the mistakes we made. From the perspective of local self-government and state authorities, we can advise on which mistakes to avoid. We also learned what the EU is, studying the experiences of Germans, Brits, and French. Now is the time when we can share our knowledge. Representing Poland's local self-government bodies, I can say that we still have much to learn from you, especially in how you work with critical infrastructure and civil defense. I want to emphasize that you should decentralize power as much as possible. In my opinion, the maximum amount of power should be given to the lowest level, as this ensures the highest efficiency," highlighted the Member of the Polish Sejm.

Karnowski added that the reconstruction process in Ukraine should begin now, and it is also important to think about how Ukrainians will rebuild their country using the best technologies, which Europe is eager to share.

• On November 12, Kyiv hosted the grand opening of the Seventh International Forum for Central and Eastern Europe Via Carpatia 2024. The event brought together Ukrainian and foreign intellectuals, scientists, public and political figures, volunteers, artists, and educators. The focus of the Via Carpatia 2024 forum is on culture, defense, energy, and economic cooperation in the joint counteraction to Russian aggression.
• On November 13, the "Ukrainian-Polish Meeting" conference kicked off as part of the Seventh International Forum of Central and Eastern Europe, Via Carpatia. Scholars, parliamentarians, government officials, and artists from Poland arrived in Kyiv, led by the head of the Polish-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group, Marcin Bosacki.
• The panel "Reconstruction of Ukraine. Areas of Cooperation between Ukraine and Poland, Project Implementation" featured Roman Vashchuk, business ombudsman and head of the Polish-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group, Hanna Hopko, head of the National Interests Protection Network (ANTC), foreign policy expert, Artem Kovalyov, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Regional Policy, Ukrainian Member of Parliament and head of the subcommittee on railway transport and river transport within the Transport and Infrastructure Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Oleksiy Ryabykin, Deputy Minister of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine.