Today, the Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas is in Kyiv to discuss and reinforce the European Union’s support for Ukraine in the field of health, education, youth, and culture. Together with the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, Oleksandr Komarid, the Vice-President will visit a children‘s hospital in Kyiv. The EU is directly supporting Ukraine in the areas of health via the Civil Protection Mechanism and the association of Ukraine with the EU4Health programme. To mark the first day of the new school year, Vice-President Schinas together with the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Serhiy Shkarlet will participate in the re-opening of one of the local schools. The Vice-President will meet with the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk. He will also meet the Minister of Culture of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tkachenko to exchange about the preservation and protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage and the future EU assistance to Ukrainian artists, culture professionals, and cultural organisations. A joint press conference by the Vice-President and Minister Tkachenko will take place after the meeting.
EU opens new office in San Francisco to reinforce its digital diplomacy
Today, the European Union opens its new office in San Francisco, California, a global centre for digital technology and innovation. The office will reinforce the EU’s cooperation with the United States on digital diplomacy and strengthen the EU’s capacity to reach out to key public and private stakeholders, including policy makers, the business community, and civil society in the digital technology sector. High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell, said: “The opening of the office in San Francisco responds to the EU’s commitment to strengthen transatlantic technological cooperation and to drive the global digital transformation based on democratic values and standards. It is a concrete step to further reinforce the EU’s work on issues such as cyber and countering hybrid threats, and foreign information manipulation and interference.” The EU office in San Francisco will seek to promote EU standards and technologies, digital policies and regulations and governance models, and to strengthen cooperation with US stakeholders, including by advancing the work of the EU-US Trade.
Poland: EU opens medical evacuations hub to facilitate transfers of Ukrainian patients
Today, the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, is in Poland to officially open the new EU Medevac Hub for medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients together with the Ministers of Health of Poland and Ukraine. The hub is strategically located near the Polish city of Rzeszów, which hosts one of the closest airports to Ukraine. The new EU Medevac Hub, financed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, is part of a broader medical evacuation scheme launched by the European Union in March 2022. The hub will offer a safe space for the patients arriving from Ukraine before they are flown out to receive treatment in a hospital in another European country. At the hub, the patients will be granted 24/7 nursing care, screening for diseases, vaccination and mental health support. The hub is also designed to facilitate the work of medical personnel as they tend for vulnerable patients arriving from Ukraine. The medical evacuation scheme includes two medevac flights a week offered by Norway, and transporting patients from Rzeszów to countries offering onward treatment. Commissioner Lenarcic said: “The number of wounded people in Ukraine grows every day, and hospitals already short in supplies are struggling to keep up with the needs. At the same time, the destruction of healthcare facilities deprives chronically ill patients of the treatment they need to survive. We cannot abandon these people. In response, the EU steps up its medical evacuation operations of Ukrainian patients with a new hub near Rzeszów, Poland. The Medevac Hub will play a key role in transferring the patients swiftly to hospitals across Europe. I want to thank all countries who have offered to accept the patients from Ukraine and help save their lives. This is a true example of EU solidarity.”
Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Simson participate in G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting
Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, and Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson are in Bali, Indonesia, to participate in the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting on Friday, 2 September. While the EU continues to pursue its European Green Deal, the Executive Vice-President and the Commissioner will discuss energy accessibility, development of clean and smart energy technologies and innovative ways of financing the clean energy transition with international partners. While in Bali, Executive Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Simson will both meet bilaterally with Australia’s Minister for Climate and Energy, Chris Bowen; and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Nishimura Yasutoshi. Executive Vice-President Timmermans will also hold bilateral meetings with India’s Minister for Energy, Raj Kumar Singh; Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Dönmez; and Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy, David Turk. Commissioner Simson will meet several other counterparts in Bali as well, including Indonesia’s Minister for Energy and Ministerial Resources, Arifin Tasrif; and OPEC Secretary General, Al Ghais. She will then continue her official visit to Indonesia until Tuesday, 6 September.
Source: Cyprus News Agency