UWC expresses concern over repeated call by PACE President to re-engage the Russian Federation

In a letter of 27 January 2017 to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Pedro Agramunt, the President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), Eugene Czolij, expressed concern over the visit by the PACE President to the Russian Federation on 12-13 January 2017 and his Opening statement to PACE on 23 January 2017 in support of re-engaging the Russian Federation.  

Highlighting the important role of PACE in promoting cooperation among parliamentarians in an effort to unite democracies around common values and interests, the UWC President drew attention to PACE Resolution 2132 (2016) on the “Political consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine” and Resolution 2133 (2016) entitled “Legal remedies for human rights violations on the Ukrainian territories outside the control of the Ukrainian authorities”, which unequivocally condemn the blatant aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation and its continuous violations of international law, and therefore preclude its participation in PACE.

“The Ukrainian World Congress urges the PACE President to withhold efforts to re-engage the Russian Federation until it ceases its flagrant violations of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and fully complies with PACE resolutions regarding Russian aggression against Ukraine,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.