Diana Morant: "The Government of Spain will take part in the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities through science"

The Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, stressed this Friday in Valencia that the Government of Spain is going to take part in the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities through science.

The minister pointed out that the Ministry of Science and Innovation has welcomed more than twenty researchers from Ukraine to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT).

"Our aim is to receive these researchers in the centres and give them the opportunity to continue their research work and not have a break in their careers. Moreover, we want the science they are doing in Spain to be of use in the reconstruction of Ukraine," he said.

The minister visited INGENIO, a joint institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, where Ukrainian researcher Oksana Udovyk is working on a project for the fair, green and participatory reconstruction of Ukrainian cities.

Udovyk arrived at the INGENIO Institute last October, thanks to the CSIC programme of scientific cooperation with Ukraine. Oksana previously worked for the United Nations in Kiev on innovation-related projects, but the outbreak of war halted her work in this area.

One year since the start of the war in Ukraine

Morant stressed that it is a complicated and sad day because it marks the first anniversary of the start of an unjust war, which should never have happened. "It is an aggression by Russia against Ukraine and we in the EU understand that it is an aggression against democracies, freedoms and the integrity of peoples," he said.

In this regard, she reaffirmed the Government of Spain's support for Ukraine, which has stood by the country and its people from day one with humanitarian and military aid.

Non official translation