On 28-30 May 2016 in Tirana, Albania, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij attended the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly during which he participated in the work of the Political Committee, the Defence and Security Committee, and the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security.
On 28 May 2016 the UWC President delivered remarks before the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security in response to the report “Ukraine’s two wars: protecting independence and implementing real reforms” as presented by the Acting Rapporteur, Sub-Committee on Democratic Governance, Lord Jopling (United Kingdom).
Eugene Czolij expressed full support for the following key statement in the conclusion of the report, namely that:
The Euro-Atlantic community […] should reaffirm its commitment to support Ukraine and to take additional meaningful steps to help it in its struggle for independence and territorial integrity.
The UWC President emphasized that the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is part of a broader imperialistic agenda that threatens stability in the world and that an independent, territorially integral and reformed Ukraine is one of the best safeguards of peace and security in Europe and beyond. Eugene Czolij highlighted that in defending its Eastern borders, Ukraine is actually defending shared democratic values and stopping the imperialist ambitions of the Russian Federation from moving further West.
The UWC President also urged the Committee to be keenly aware of the powerful Russian disinformation campaign that is designed to convince the world that Ukraine is a failed state in order to bring it into the fold of the Russian Federation without much objection from the Euro-Atlantic community.
In response to the conclusions presented in the report, Eugene Czolij recommended that NATO take the following “additional meaningful steps” to help Ukraine in its struggle to defend the common values of the Euro-Atlantic community, namely for NATO and its member countries to:
- deliver a clear, strong and united message to the Russian Federation that the Euro-Atlantic community will never compromise or tolerate any violations of the independence and territorial integrity of any country, including Ukraine, and that there cannot be any “business as usual” relationship with the Russian Federation, including in NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, until the Russian Federation fully complies with its international obligations, including the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and the Minsk Agreements;
- increase sectoral economic sanctions against the Russian Federation for its daily blatant violations of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and the Minsk Agreements and its illegal occupation of Crimea
- strengthen NATO-Ukraine cooperation and initiate talks on Ukraine’s membership in NATO; and
- adopt a comprehensive assistance package in support of Ukraine’s reforms and its defence against Russian aggression.
In the framework of the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the UWC President had the opportunity to discuss the Russian aggression against Ukraine with Secretary General of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly David Hobbs and NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow.
“The NATO Parliamentary Assembly must send a clear message of no tolerance for an aggressor state defying international order and of its unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity, and should encourage all NATO member states to endorse this message with concrete actions,” commented UWC President Eugene Czolij.
The remarks delivered by UWC President Eugene Czolij before the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security can be read here.
In the photo: E. Czolij (first from left) is delivering remarks before the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security. Photo courtesy of NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s album
