Poroshenko delivers keynote address at Yalta European Strategy meeting

KYIV – President Petro Poroshenko gave the keynote speech at the 15th yearly Yalta European Strategy (YES) meeting on September 14 in Kyiv’s Mystetskyi Arsenal art and cultural museum. Known as the “Ukrainian Davos,” it is Eastern Europe’s biggest conference devoted to Ukraine’s place in Europe. Some 600 heads of state, politicians, economists, thinkers and business leaders were in attendance. This year’s theme of the YES meeting, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, was “The Next Generation of Everything.” In his speech, President Poroshenko said that Ukraine is the eastern stronghold of NATO’s common security system. “Our European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations should be considered in a broader international and European context,” he said. “It is not that we need just the European Union, we also need NATO. In the same way, they need us.” Mr. Poroshenko also emphasized that a united Europe isn’t possible without Ukraine. “Ukraine is a Euro-optimistic nation. Its people have a unique belief in Europe.”