August 31, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Croatia
offers its ports for the export of Ukrainian grains through the Solidarity
Lanes and is currently expanding their capacities, Minister of Foreign and
European Affairs Gordan Grlic Radman said in Toledo, Spain, on Thursday.
European foreign ministers have gathered in an informal Gymnich format in Toledo where they were joined by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Grlic
Radman said that at the meeting he would emphasise Croatia's contribution to
the solidarity corridors between the EU and Ukraine.
“We must do
more to bring Ukrainian grain to countries facing food insecurity, especially
in Africa,” the minister pointed out.
“Croatia
offers its ports here, primarily the ports of Rijeka, Split, Ploče and, of
course, Vukovar on the Danube. We are currently working on expanding our
capacities”, the Croatian minister added.
Through the
solidarity corridors, launched in May last year, more than 44.4 million tonnes
of grain, oilseeds and related products were exported from Ukraine until June,
according to the website of the European Commission, which is about 60 percent
since the beginning of the war.
The
corridors helped Ukraine to export more than 36 million tons of other products
such as ores, iron and steel, soil and wood, which brought it about €33 billion
in earnings.
Grlic
Radman announced that at the meeting he will also speak about the international
conference on demining that Croatia is organising in Zagreb on October 11 and
12.
“Large
parts of Ukrainian territory are infested with mines. The sooner they are
cleaned up, the sooner Ukraine will return to its economic activity,” he
emphasised.
The
minister will also mention Croatia's new package of military aid to Ukraine,
stressing that Croatia will “continue to help in accordance with Ukraine's
needs and its capabilities.” The new aid package will amount to €30 million,
which will increase the total Croatian aid since the beginning of the war to
€190 million.
In Toledo,
the ministers will also discuss the consequences of the coup in Niger, as well
as the general approach to Africa after Wednesday's military coup in Gabon.
Grlic
Radman met with his Spanish colleague Jose Manuel Albares a day earlier,
expressing his satisfaction with the intensification of the political dialogue
between the two countries, given the frequent bilateral visits at the highest
levels.
Informal
meetings of the EU foreign ministers are held twice a year and take place
in the member state that presides over the Council of the European Union,
currently Spain. The Gymnich format is named after a castle in Germany
where the first such meeting was held in 1974.
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