Ms. Chairperson,

The delegation of Ukraine warmly welcomes Mr. Peter Lord Bowness in his capacity as President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and thanks him for providing the updated information on the recent OSCE PA activities as well as its plans for the forthcoming months.

Mr. President, 

We appreciate your comments regarding the OSCE PA approaches to handle its work against the backdrop of the continued COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage the Assembly to act in close cooperation with the Swedish OSCE Chairpersonship and the newly appointed OSCE Secretary General and heads of institutions.

We take this opportunity to reiterate the need for the OSCE PA to keep high on its agenda the issue of addressing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and ensuring the implementation of the OSCE principles and commitments.

Waging armed aggression against Ukraine for 7 years, Russia has been grossly violating the UN Charter, OSCE principles and commitments and its other international legal obligations, undermining fundamental principles of the international legal order, including respect for the territorial integrity of sovereign states and the inviolability of borders.

As a result of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, more than 14,000 people were killed and almost 40,000 wounded. More than 1.5 million Crimean and Donbas residents have been forced to flee their homes as internally displaced persons, while 170,000 Russians have been relocated by Russia to the occupied Crimea in violation of the international humanitarian law.

Remaining seized of this critical issue for the regional security, the UN General Assembly adopted in December 2020 two important resolutions – “Problem of the militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov”, and “Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine”.

The documents recognize, in particular, that the transformation of Crimea into a huge military base constitutes a direct threat to security and stability in the region, and that Russia does not fulfill its international obligations in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law with regard to Crimea. They also call on the Russian Federation to ensure unhindered and full access to Crimea for international monitoring missions, in particular the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the OSCE SMM.

We underline the need for enhanced international cooperation aimed at the de-occupation of Crimea, including through the implementation of the Ukrainian initiative to create the Crimean Platform.

We regret that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was not able to hold its annual session last year due to the pandemic. In the meantime, the top priority for the OSCE PA must remain the achievement of the implementation of the Assembly’s declarations and resolutions, adopted annually since 2014, on the violations of the Helsinki Principles by the Russian Federation, the abducted and illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation, the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as increasing militarization of the occupied Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Let me conclude by wishing you, Mr. Peter Lord Bowness, every success in your important endeavors as President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Thank you, Ms. Chairperson.