The Royal Court

State visit to Ukraine

Kateryna Yushchenko, President Yushchenko, Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/Scanpix

Kateryna Yushchenko, President Yushchenko, Queen Silvia, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/Scanpix

The King and Queen are carrying out a state visit to Ukraine on 1—4 October at the invitation of President Viktor Yushchenko. They are accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask, and the Chairman of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Signhild Arnegård Hansen, who leads a delegation of Swedish business representatives.

The visit began in Kiev with a welcome ceremony in the grounds of the Presidential Palace.

The programme for Kiev included a visit to the Ukrainian Parliament and a meeting with Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk, as well as with the Chairman of the Ukrainian-Swedish Society of Friends, Leoinid Kozhara.

The King and Queen also paid tribute to the victims of the Holodomor, the Great Famine of 1932-1933, at a ceremony by the memorial that was unveiled in 1993.

The King and Queen with President Yushchenko. Photo: Sergey Dolzhenk/EPA

The King and Queen with President Yushchenko. Photo: Sergey Dolzhenk/EPA