Cassis calls demining in Ukraine an enormous task
Published: Thursday, Feb 22nd 2024, 21:10
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Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has described mine clearance in Ukraine as an enormous task. He said in New York that the ministerial conference on the topic planned for October in Geneva would focus primarily on the challenge of global food security.
The consequences of the mining and contamination of the country by war remnants extend far beyond the borders of Ukraine, Cassis explained on Thursday at a meeting of the UN Anti-Mining Group under the presidency of Italy.
If the war in grain-exporting Ukraine leads to a ten percent increase in the price of bread in Geneva or New York, this is manageable for the population, as Cassis said. In a country with an average daily income of one or two US dollars, the effects would be far more dramatic.
The ability of Ukraine and the entire region to export agricultural products, which is important for many countries, could be permanently weakened. Against this backdrop, demining is becoming a prerequisite for reconstruction.
Cassis announced in New York that the next preparatory conference before the ministerial conference planned for October in Geneva would take place in Kiev in April. At the same time, he called for mine clearance in Ukraine to be accelerated through political discussions.
He also said that the Swiss Foundation for Demining (FSD) was searching for mines in the Kharkov and Kherson regions, primarily using drones. Switzerland would also like to contribute to new search technologies for mine detection, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.
On Friday, the Swiss Foreign Minister will address the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council in New York on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
©Keystone/SDA
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