On August 6, 2019 Mr. Andre J. Groenwald, newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Africa in Ukraine, visited the National Institute for Strategic Studies (the NISS), where he met with Acting Director of the Institute Vasyl Yablonskyi. The meeting was also attended by Tetiana Zaiats, senior advisor of the Department of External Communications, and Oksana Shcherba, leading specialist of the Department of External Communications.
The meeting took place for introductory and advisory purposes. Vasyl Yablonskyi informed Mr. Ambassador regarding the history of the NISS, its present structure, the main areas of its activities, and the present tasks delegated to the experts of the NISS.
The conversation during the meeting concerned the issues of interest for Mr. Groenewald, such as political situation in Ukraine after the Elections-2019, and the current state of solving issues related to national minorities and language issues. Mr. Yablonskyi gave a detailed answer to the issues of interest for Mr. Ambassador, while referring to historical facts and factors that resulted in emergence of above-mentioned political concerns on the territory of Ukraine. He also pointed out all political steps taken by Ukrainian state in order to solve the following issues in a peaceful and democratic way.
The parties also discussed European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine, as well as the main vectors of Ukrainian international policy. Special attention was given to prospects of future relations between Ukraine and the Republic of South Africa, the ways of cooperation between our countries and potential for cooperation between analytical institutions of Ukraine and the Republic of South Africa.