Ignazio Cassis says Swiss expect Ukraine reconstruction conference

Ignazio Cassis says Swiss expect Ukraine reconstruction conference

Web Desk
June 20, 2022

Ignazio Cassis says Swiss expect Ukraine reconstruction conference

Switzerland will host a high-level conference on Ukraine reconstruction next month.
The event had been planned before Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
It had originally been slated to discuss reforms in Ukraine before being repurposed for war reconstruction.

Switzerland will host a high-level conference on Ukraine reconstruction next month, said president Ignazio Cassis, adding that the process would be “long and complex” and would require reforms.

“The war is still going on, but we also know that the time will come for reconstruction,” Swiss President Ignazio Cassis told reporters as he unveiled the conference’s plans for July 4-5.

“We need to discuss this as quickly as possible, by gathering the concerned countries and the international organizations around the table to define when what, who, but especially to lay out how we want to prepare this reconstruction plan,” he said.

Switzerland has invited leaders from scores of countries and international organizations to the conference in Lugano, near the Italian border.

The event had been planned before Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, and had originally been slated to discuss reforms in Ukraine before being repurposed for war reconstruction.

No one had wanted to cancel the event after the war erupted, Cassis said. That would have sent “a very bad signal” to Ukraine and the international community, he added.

Swiss authorities say they expect delegates from more than 40 countries and 20 international organizations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal have confirmed they will participate, either in person or virtually.

Cassis confirmed that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would be there, as would the heads of government of Lithuania and the Czech Republic.

The conference will center on pledges of reconstruction funds. It will focus on rebuilding war-ravaged infrastructure and Ukraine’s ravaged economy, as well as reforms that can be implemented even as the war continues.

The event was originally intended to focus on “good governance, decentralization, the separation of powers, and the fight against corruption,” and Cassis stated that these issues would remain on the agenda.