Luxembourg–Ukraine relations — a set of international bilateral relations between

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, as well as cooperation between the two countries in

international organizations An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

and other

international institutions An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is represented in Ukraine through the Embassy in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

). Ukraine is represented in Luxembourg through the embassy in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). Luxembourg is a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, which Ukraine applied for in 2022.

Luxembourg's recognition of Ukraine's state independence

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg recognized the independence of Ukraine together with other EU countries on 31 December 1991. Diplomatic relations were established on 1 July 1992 by exchange of notes.

Political dialogue

The political dialogue at the highest level was initiated by the visit of the President of Ukraine

Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (, ; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician and the first president of Ukraine, serving from 5 December 1991 until 19 July 1994. In 1992, he signed the Lisbon Protocol, undertaking to give up Ukrai ...

to Luxembourg on 14 June 1994, during which the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Ukraine and the European Communities and their Member States was signed. In the 1990s, bilateral relations were closely linked to Ukraine's cooperation with the EU. This was primarily facilitated by the official visits of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg J.-C. Juncker to Ukraine (September 1997) and the Prime Minister of Ukraine V.P. Pustovoitenko to Luxembourg (June 1998), which were combined, respectively with the first EU-Ukraine summit and the first meeting of the Ukraine-EU Cooperation Council.Кривонос Р. А. Кудряченко А. І. Стан і перспективи співпраці України з країнами Бенілюксу // Україна в Європі: контекст міжнародних відносин: колективна монографія / За ред. А. І. Кудряченка. — К.: Фенікс, 2011. — С. 436—438. On 22 February 2005, President of Ukraine

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

met with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

in Brussels as part of a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at the highest level. On the occasion of the 4th meeting of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council in Luxembourg, on 26 June 2001, the Prime Minister of Ukraine A.K. Kinah had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg J.-C. Juncker. On 18 June 2007 the Prime Ministers of Ukraine and Luxembourg V.F. Yanukovych and Jean-Claude Juncker met during the participation of the Prime Minister of Ukraine in the 11th meeting of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council in Luxembourg. On 19 March 2009, within the framework of the European People's Party Summit in Brussels, the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko and the Prime Minister of Ukraine

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( Hrihyan born 27 November 1960) is a Ukrainian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2005, and again from 2007 until 2010; the first and only woman in Ukraine to hold that position. She has been ...

met with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker. The parties discussed issues of bilateral relations, emphasizing the interest in expanding trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and Luxembourg's support for Ukraine's European integration policy. On 16 June 2009 the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, held bilateral talks with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Zh.-K. Juncker as part of Yulia Tymoshenko's working visit to the Grand Duchy to participate in a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council. During her stay in Luxembourg, Yulia Tymoshenko was also received by the head of state, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg. Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Luxembourg took place regularly as part of their participation in the sessions of the UN General Assembly and during their participation in other international events. An important part of the political dialogue was the launch in June 2003 of bilateral consultations at the level of foreign ministries. Since October 2008, the Luxembourg side has been participating as an observer in the work of the Ukrainian-Belgian Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Financial Cooperation. Luxembourg-Ukrainian cooperation is based on a legal framework consisting of 4 agreements.

Trade and economic cooperation

Trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Luxembourg is characterized by trends similar to those in the development of cooperation with Belgium and the Netherlands. However, the global economic crisis has been reflected here before. In 2008, the turnover of goods and services amounted to 40.8 million US dollars, which indicated a decrease compared to 2007 by 29.7%, including Ukrainian exports amounted to 16.6 million US dollars, imports - 24.2 million US dollars. A positive trend is the reduction of Ukraine's negative trade balance with Luxembourg from 51.6 million US dollars in 2007 to 7.5 million US dollars in 2008. As of 2009, the volume of direct investments in Ukraine from Luxembourg was amounted at $250 million US dollars. or 0.6% of total foreign direct investment in Ukraine. Almost half of Luxembourg's investments in Ukraine's economy are directed to wholesale trade (43%); followed by the chemical and petrochemical industries, real estate, renting, engineering and business services. On 14 March 2017 the

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

finally ratified the Intergovernmental Convention between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, signed on 6 September 1997.

Scientific and technical cooperation

Cooperation in science and technology plays an important role in bilateral relations. In particular, in the framework of the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement on the training of banking professionals (since 1998) with the active participation of the Agency for the Transfer of Banking Technologies of Luxembourg (ATTF) and the

National Bank of Ukraine The National Bank of Ukraine ( ; NBU []) is the central bank of Ukraine. Created in 1991 from the Ukrainian operations of the Soviet Gosbank, the NBU employs over 12,000 people, making it one of the largest employers in the financial sector in ...

. Representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine regularly participate in seminars on the functioning of international financial markets and the prevention of financial crime, which are held in Luxembourg. In addition, since 2005, seminars on this topic, organized with the assistance and at the expense of the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg, have been held in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Cooperation in education, science, culture, sports and tourism

Luxembourg-Ukraine cooperation in the field of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is carried out within the framework of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on cooperation in culture, education, science, youth, sports and tourism of 2 December 1994. In order to fill the real content of this agreement, the parties developed a draft Program of Cooperation in Culture, Education, Science, Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for 2009-2011. However, due to lack of funds for its implementation, the signing was postponed indefinitely at the initiative of the Ukrainian side.

References

Literature

* Кривонос Р. А. Кудряченко А. І. Стан і перспективи співпраці України з країнами Бенілюксу // Україна в Європі: контекст міжнародних відносин: колективна монографія / За ред. А. І. Кудряченка. — К.: Фенікс, 2011. — С. 419—439. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxembourg-Ukraine relations