31 January 2014
MEDIA RELEASE
Ukrainian World Congress welcomes urgent debate on Ukraine
by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) welcomes the urgent debate on the crisis in Ukraine held by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 30 January 2014 that resulted in a resolution strongly condemning the escalating violence at EuroMaidan protests.
The resolution, based on a report by Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), noted the public statements by Ukraine’s governing authorities that the decision not to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was heavily influenced by pressure from the Russian Federation, and especially the threat by Russia to close its borders to goods coming from Ukraine if the Association Agreement was signed. “The threat of economic or political sanctions in order to influence political decisions in another country is in contradiction to generally accepted diplomatic and democratic norms and is inadmissible,” reads the resolution.
“The Ukrainian World Congress supports PACE in its call for Ukraine’s governing authorities to enter into open, honest and effective negotiations with the opposition and to promptly seek a wide consensus on the geopolitical alignment and further democratic development, as well as the constitutional order of the country,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
