The office of the Embassy of Denmark in Mykolaiv will open in a few weeks — the head has already been appointed
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- Alisa Melik-Adamian
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16:00, 12 September, 2023
The office of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Mykolaiv will start working within a few weeks. Currently, its head is already appointed — a Danish diplomat.
The Ambassador of Denmark to Ukraine, Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, told about this during a conversation with the «NikVesti» correspondent.
The need to open the embassy is due to the fruitful cooperation between Copenhagen and Mykolaiv. At the official opening, the ambassador announced the arrival of a distinguished Danish official to the city.
— We are working on it, we need to have a local representative office, because it is a long road from Kyiv to Mykolaiv. The already appointed head of our new Embassy Office is a young Danish diplomat. And there will also be a visit by a dignitary from Denmark to cut the ribbon. We hope that there will be an appropriate representative from the Ukrainian side as well. For security reasons, we cannot give a date, it will definitely be within a few weeks. This will be a real embassy office, the city will have its first embassy, — Ole Egberg Mikkelsen said.
The representative office will function in the city during the post-war reconstruction of Mykolaiv.
— I think that the Embassy Office will be here as long as it will be necessary for the development of the city of Mykolaiv. And after the victory, as I said, Mykolaiv and I will be together for a long time, I think that this is a long-term cooperation, — he added.
The beginning of Denmark's cooperation with Mykolaiv
In March 2022, the president of Ukraine, speaking in front of the Danish parliament, called on the country to take «leadership» over Mykolaiv after the end of the full-scale war unleashed by Russia.
At the end of August last year, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, and the Minister of International Development of Denmark, Flemming Moller Mortensen, signed a memorandum of cooperation. The memorandum envisages joint work on the formation of reconstruction projects and the involvement of investors from various countries in the restoration of Mykolaiv.
In January 2023, a meeting of representatives of Denmark and Ukraine took place in Mykolaiv regarding the planning of further restoration of the city.
On July 3, the Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark announced a new aid package for the Mykolaiv region.
In September, after a meeting with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the opening of the office of the Danish Embassy in Ukraine in Mykolaiv.
Postwar reconstruction of Mykolaiv
Currently, it is known that about 60% of the aid that Denmark sends to Ukraine goes to Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv region.
At the annual forum of the publishing house «Legal Practice» Business & Legal Infrastructure Forum, the ambassador of Denmark to Ukraine announced the vision of the post-war reconstruction of Mykolaiv with friendly conditions for pedestrians and bicycle infrastructure.
While in Mykolaiv, the ambassador explained that after the end of the full-scale war, Denmark would help Mykolaiv to restore and modernize its shipbuilding capacity.
In addition, Denmark will rebuild the Lyceum named after Mykola Arkas while preserving its authentic appearance. As of September 2023, Ukrainian architects presented Ole Egberg Mikkelsen with reconstruction options.
Another educational institution that the Danes will rebuild is Admiral Makarov National Shipbuilding University (NUK). The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Ukraine Ole Egberg Mikkelsen is sure that this will revive Mykolaiv as a «city of shipbuilding".
The ambassador also supported the idea of creating a Danish neighbourhood or park in Mykolaiv, but today this issue remains at the idea stage.