Accompanied by Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and her
husband, Imants, Victor Yushchenko has visited a Ukrainian secondary school in
Riga, President's press office reported.
The Head of State thanked the Latvian government for meeting
the needs of Ukrainians residing in the republic. He assured his counterpart
that our government was also ready to help and support Latvians in Ukraine.
“I am convinced that in our diverse world it is vital to
preserve native language, literature and history in order to preserve
nationalities,” he opined.
The Head of State said a special council to work with
Ukrainians living abroad had been established in Ukraine and held its first
meeting yesterday. He said its members had decided to give “passports of foreign
Ukrainians” to hundreds of Ukrainians living abroad, including 144 Ukrainians in
Latvia.
Mr. Yushchenko added that the government had also founded a
special department within Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry to communicate and support
Ukrainians abroad.
“We aim to help Ukrainian diasporas profoundly integrate with
Ukraine and adopt its way of life,” he said.
