October 24, 2023 – Prague, Czech Republic – Today, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) joined the participants of the Second Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform.
UWC President Paul Grod represented the global Ukrainian diaspora at the plenary session of representatives of parliaments of the participating countries and backed the Summit’s Joint Declaration on behalf of the UWC.
“UWC is pleased to be Ukraine’s partner and participant in the Crimea Platform. We will continue leading global advocacy campaigns to encourage the international community to support the Crimea Platform. Our unity is crucial to defeating Russian aggression and restoring the international rules based international law. Putin and all Russian war criminals must be brought to justice. Crimea is and always will be Ukraine!” stated UWC President Paul Grod.
The Joint Declaration reaffirmed that the Crimea Platform remains the pivotal foreign policy instrument for consolidating international efforts aimed at the de-occupation and restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, expressed support for President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula, reaffirmed resolute commitment to the principle of non-recognition of Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea and attempts to illegally annex other Ukrainian territories, and emphasized that the global consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine affect nations and people worldwide.
The Declaration also condemned Russia’s illegitimate so-called “referenda” conducted in parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as the sham “elections” in these temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, brutal human rights violations and violations of the international humanitarian law committed by the Russia in Ukraine, forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, as well as Russia’s unilateral decision to suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative and its blockade of Ukrainian sea ports, which led to disruption of global food supply chains.
The participants declared their intention to support international investigation into the war crimes, perpetrated by the Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine, support the International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine, ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice, and explore the establishment of an international tribunal for the crime of aggression. They also reiterated their commitment to support the application and further strengthening of sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Read the full Join Declaration of the Second Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform.
During the Summit, UWC presented its Parliamentary checklist for all legislators to use as a roadmap to support Ukraine, namely:
- Designating Russia as a terrorist state
- Confiscating frozen Russian assets
- Prosecute individuals and organizations responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity – Magnitsky legislation and International War Crimes Tribunal
- Recognize Holodomor (1932-33) as a genocide
- Recognize Crimean Tatar 1944 deportation as a genocide
- Enhanced sanctions on Russia, including a robust monitoring and enforcement regime
- Visa bans on all Russian citizens
- Suspension of all trade agreements and relations
- Resolution to immediately begin accession negotiations with Ukraine to the European Union and NATO
- Establish Ukraine parliamentary friendship groups to support the Crimean platform agenda.
