Ukraine's reconstruction will probably be 'project of century': Foreign minister

ANKARA

The reconstruction of Ukraine, where Russia continues its "special military operation" since February 2022, will probably be the “project of the century,” the country's foreign minister said Wednesday.

“I would like to raise reconstruction in Ukraine. It will be, probably the project, project of the century. It will be also, it seems to me, a trigger for EU economy. It will be an opportunity for EU economy, for EU companies,” Andrii Sybiha told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Damages in Ukraine are estimated at around €600 billion ($626 billion), he said, stressing that this presents “huge challenges and huge opportunities.”

Sybiha said more than 90% of the Ukrainian population supports EU membership, adding that Ukraine “must achieve long lasting, just comprehensive peace, because security of Europe and security of Ukraine is indivisible.”

He called on the 27-member bloc for more “unity” in the face of the current “geopolitical challenges” including the “brutal Russian aggression.” Sybiha, in this context, stressed the need to prevent “abusing or misusing of the right of veto of some EU members.”

“I think it is inappropriate to blackmail, for example, publicly, future EU members of possibility to block them on their way to EU,” he added.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, for her part, hailed the solidarity shown by EU members in this challenging period, and said: “They support each other and this geopolitics have also brought more solidarity … It is more solidarity among the member states towards the candidate countries.”

Russian war ‘changed everything’

Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the Russian war in Ukraine “changed everything,” and that it pushed the bloc to increase its defense expenditure to 2% of their GDP.

He said this led to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia being moved from the “neighboring countries” category to the “enlargement pot.”

“Had there not been the February of 2022 we will be in a very different situation,” Plenkovic added.

Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said EU accession was not a competition, but a path for candidates to “develop better, to be better market economies, to have rule of law, to have more fair society, to have more democratic institutions.”

“We feel Ukraine is part of the wider region, and we feel we have common destiny, and we want to see Ukraine progress as fast as possible,” he added.