PRAGUE, July 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Europe plans to send experts to Ukraine to help Kiev assess the environmental damage caused by the ongoing hostilities and to support the country’s efforts in ensuring environmental protection, Czech Environment Minister Anna Hubackova said.
“EU countries plan to send experts to Ukraine to help determine the environmental damage caused by hostilities in the country. Moreover, this work may gradually begin now,” Hubackova told reporters ahead of an informal meeting of the EU environment ministers in Prague.
The Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets will deliver a speech at the meeting on the environmental assistance Kiev is seeking from the European Union, the Czech official said, adding that the talks will also focus on financial instruments European organizations can use for this purpose.
EU member states and Ukraine intend to sign a memorandum on the support in environmental protection following the meeting, according to Hubackova. The Czech minister said the draft document had been prepared before the outbreak of the hostilities and contains mainly general information about the cooperation in improving the environmental situation in the country.
This comes after the new authorities of the Kherson region, controlled by the Russian forces, accused Kiev of planting landmines in wheat fields. Volodymyr Saldo, the new head of the Kherson administration, said that grain harvest was expected to drop by hundreds of thousands of tonnes this season.
On Feb 24, Russia began a military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The UN environment authority has expressed serious concern about environmental consequences of the hostilities, saying that they could “leave the country and region with a toxic legacy for generations to come.” — NNN-AGENCIES
