President opened Ukraine center in Bucharest

President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday attended a ceremony in Romania’s capital Bucharest to open a Ukrainian culture and information center, the President’s press office reports.

In his speech, Yushchenko said this event was important for developing Ukraine’s ties with Romania and added that the two countries must be partners when resolving cultural problems and satisfying the needs of their diasporas.

The president said he had spoken about how to protect the rights and interests of Romania’s Ukrainian community during his meetings with the country’s leaders. “We will resolve all the problems regarding the observance of national minority rights,” he said and added that Ukraine and Romania had agreed yesterday to formulate and exchange minority initiatives in thirty days. “We agreed that the presidents would control this issue, as it is one of our national priorities.”

Yushchenko also assured members of the Ukrainian community they would always feel Ukraine’s support in Romania. “Ukraine will spare no effort to ensure that you feel worthily and comfortably.”